Don't get bitten by "old man winter"!

Last night we had a frost advisory which left some home owners covering up their blooms. Several friends have asked me about when to buy and plant annuals this time of year, so I decided I'd just do a post on it. The date that's recommended around here is April 15th, the "average last day of frost". That means that if you don't want to loose your blooms (or worse) wait until mid April to put in summer annuals (e.g. impatients, petunias....): regardless of how good the sale or how bad your spring fever!

Pansies are one fall/winter annual that is thriving now, however (despite them still being sold this time of year) their days are numbered for the season. Once the warm weather gets here, they will start to wither and fade. Snapdragons are another cold season annual that do well this time of year and are currently available.

I've been buying and planting some perennials, mostly herbs. However, I did break down and buy basil yesterday, but I'm planning to keep it indoors for a few weeks (we'll see how that works). If you can bear to wait until mid April for your other annual summer color, try to! I think it will save you some headache!

The meandering ways of garden paths

I love the curious ways of a curvy garden path. They beckon one deeper into the space never knowing what treasures lie beyond the next curve. I admire how a curve encourages us to wander and peruse, where straighter walks are more direct, as if in a hurry. Over the past several years (and as a bit of a hobby), I've started capturing photos of paths and trails on trips to gardens here and abroad. Here are some of my favorites.

This one you've probably seen before. Its of a runner bond pattern brink walk we completed in our old side yard with gorgeous mossy salvaged bricks. This small garden is actually less than 12 feet wide, but it became on of my favorite spots nonetheless. The color variation in the old bricks is incomparable in my opinion to newer more "perfect" varieties available in retail outlets today.

  

We found this lonely path at Laguna Mojanda in Ecuador a few years ago. I love how it follows the landscape's natural elevations, literally carving up and making it accessible for travelers today. I also can't help but think about why the path was created and who and what have traveled its course.

This path is from the Hacienda Cusin near Otavalo, Ecuador. I love the use of the tall green spike-like foliage as a mask for what's beyond.

This path is at the renowned Fearrington Inn and Village in Pittsboro, NC. Their village community is both a gardener and gourmand's delight. I love the width of this path and how the maple tree helps provides a canopy over the walk while also peaking one's interest at what's around the next bend.

This simple path of crushed stone with a rock border was our carpet through a jungle in Belize. There's something about the contrast of the gray color against the green foliage in this setting that is pleasing to the eye.

I don't mean to knock straight paths, as they also have their merits and uses in the landscape: straight paths are often indicative of more formal spaces. Straight paths are wonderful in symmetrical gardens and create amazing lines when anchored with a focal point as done in the Reynolda Village garden.

This path can be found at the Reynolda Gardens in Winston Salem, NC. The use of grass for a path is unconventional, yet inviting. The gazebo placement at the of the walk demarcates the passing from one part of the garden to another.

This grass path through a grove of trees, from the Grayland Inn (also in Winston Salem), is gorgeously framed with trees. (I'm still unsure of how they are able to get grass to grow in that much shade, but I'm certainly glad they did!)

This straight and narrow way frames the "White Garden" also at the Fearrington Inn. A bench is the focal point awaiting travelers along this path.

In this South American path, stones and rocks of various sizes are inter-laid to create the effect of a continuous solid path.

We have plans to put in a flagstone path from our backyard garden gate to our brick patio this Spring/Summer. Posts on the project progress are sure to follow!

Camellia Japonicas are in full bloom

The Camellia Japonicas are in full bloom around Raleigh and I love it! This weekend we celebrated the triplet's first birthday and we have a tradition in our house of creating cut arrangement from only plants in the yard for birthday arrangements. This tradition was started by my aunt Mary, for whom I was named, years ago and my mom has kept it up. This is one of my favorite traditions as my fete anniversaire always falls comes when Peonies are in season, and somehow a fragrant bouquet of pink peonies softens the blow of another year rather nicely!

This weekend, mom delivered a straight-from-garden grouping of Pink Perfection Camellias. The pink perfection is one of my favorite blooms with her hot pink delicately carved petals. I've been trying to find one of these late winter/early spring bloomers at several local garden centers to no avail. I was, however, referred to a new find, Camtoo Camellias, a wholesale camellia nursery in Greensboro, NC! (As a hometown girl, I do love a NC plant business!) I've also found there are several equally as aesthetically pleasing camellia cousins. In talking with my mom about her shrub, she did share that she doesn't love how the flowers fade and fall: the entire bloom drops from the steam together leaving litter of brown clumps on the ground beneath the shrub. That isn't something necessarily that I would have considered when plant shopping, but it something definitely worth considering going forward along with bloom time, sun/shade preference and size!

In my own garden, we did plan several Yuletide Camellia Sasanqua's this past Fall. Unfortunately, they didn't bloom despite being loaded with blooms, but I am optimistic about next year's show!

Happy Gardening!

Read more about camellias

Basics of Organic Fertilizers

(This is the 2nd part of two posts on fertilizers. Read the first post here.) 

I love the idea of using organic fertilizers! Using them makes me feel good about "reusing" something and not damaging something downstream at the same time. Its like guilt free fertilizing! Organic fertilizers are naturally-occurring fertilizers such as compost, bone meal or manure. Organic fertilizers help amend the quality of your existing soil and as compared to inorganic fertlilizers they are adsorbed more slowly over time (resulting in fewer applications) and help improve the moisture retention of your soil. They also lead to less runoff of excess chemicals and are typically cheaper (especially when they are "home grown" with a chicken coop or worm or bin composting). Here are some types of organic fertilizers you may want to consider:

• Mushroom Compost - This is the organic material left over from the intentional growth of mushrooms that has been steam treated to remove critters, weed seeds and other pathogens. According to http://www.mushroomcompost.org/, the average mushroom compost has a mix of 1.12: .67:, 1.24. (If you aren't sure what these number mean, read about N:P:K values here.)
• Bone Meal - Bone meal is literally milled bones. It has a N:P:K ration of 4:15:0. This makes it great for stimulating root growth - which is why its often used for planting bulbs.
• Black Cow - Black cow is just what you are thinking: good ole "manure". I just checked my bag and it boasts a N:P:K ratio of 1.5:1.5:1.5. This sort of leaves me wondering what the rest of it is since only 4.5% of the composition is accounted for. Anyone know?
• Garden Compost - I have had a composting bin for a few years now and I often use it as part of a soil cocktail when planting new plants. I use it for general purposes in the garden, but I'm not sure its N:P:K makeup. I'd love to know if anyone else has knows if there are best applications for compost from kitchen scraps.
• Worm Compost - In the Fall of 2009, I started worm composting. I wasn't able to stick with it long enough to generate must compost or compost tea. For me, I didn't feel like the worms could accommodate the volume of kitchen scraps that we regularly generate and I found that I needed to keep both a worm bin and a normal compost bin going at the same time. I also found the worm composting bin to be a bit high maintenance. Nonetheless, many a gardener uses worm castings and tea in their garden and there are certainly plenty of "worm poop" enthusiasts out there!
• Chick coop poop - I have several friends with chickens and I am the grateful benefactor of their surplus eggs from time to time. After touring gardens on the Henside the Beltine: Tour De Coup, one friend, Jody, was an instant convert. She was struck by the gorgeous gardens, not chickens, on the tour. Chicken droppings are high in Nitrogen and are great at boosting new plant growth!  

Right now, I'm still working on getting my compost bin running and generating soil again. I've been at it since the end of January, so hopefully, we'll have some "black gold" again soon! In the meantime, I try to keep both mushroom compost and black cow on hand when putting in new shrubs and plants.

March 2011 Garden Event Roundup

Here's what's happening for the rest of this month in and around the gardens of Raleigh!

• March 6th - "Native Azaleas" Workshop  (NC Botanical Gardens, Chapel Hill)
• March 8th - Japanese Plants and Collectors (JC Raulston Arboretum, Raleigh)
• March 11th - Spring Walk in the Garden (Duke Gardens, Durham)
• March 12th -  "Soils, Water, and Site Conditions for Home Landscapes" Workshop  (NC Botanical Gardens, Chapel Hill)
• March 12th - 3rd Annual Camellia Show (JC Raulston Arboretum, Raleigh) 
• March 13th -  "Container Gardening" Workshop  (NC Botanical Gardens, Chapel Hill)
• March 17th - "Plant Exploration in Crete" Lecture (JC Raulston Arboretum, Raleigh)
• March 26th -  "Get Growing Vegetables" Workshop  (NC Botanical Gardens, Chapel Hill)
• March 26th - "Weeds 101" Workshop  (NC Botanical Gardens, Chapel Hill) 
• March 31st - Backyard Birdhouses Lecture (JC Raulston Arboretum, Raleigh)

Hope to see you out and about! Happy gardening!