Picture this, gardening friends: I got up early today and stumbled to the kitchen. Turned on the coffee maker and poured a steaming cuppa. Tied the belt on my robe–I’d watched the news the night before, so I knew our temperatures had dropped toward freezing–and headed into the garage, intending to raise the door and fetch the paper that the deliveryman always slings into my [...]
Did you know that Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue has declared today, Nov. 15, “America Recycles Day” here in our state? So save those paper towels that you cleaned the kitchen with this morning, along with the cartridge from your laser jet printer, yesterday’s milk jug, the motor oil from your car, and…well, you get the idea. [...]
Ready to go green? Of course you are! If you live in the Southeast, like me, you’ve struggled with the drought over the last few years. Because you care about our environment, you’ve switched to canvas bags, instead of those flimsy plastic ones, when you go shopping. You crunch aluminum cans, recycle newspapers, cook with fresh produce, and buy from local growers whenever [...]
Imagine your holiday table dressed up with gorgeous flowers blooming in deep red or snowy white; pale pink or brilliant copper; dark burgundy or even pale green. Better yet, imagine that you’ve grown these beauties yourself, indoors–and with very little effort at all. You may have already guessed that I’m talking about amaryllis (Hippeastrum). You can find amaryllis bulbs for sale now, at garden [...]
Before we leave the subject of pumpkins (see yesterday’s post), I want to tell you about an unusual variety to look for at this time of year. It’s the beautiful, so-called “true” or French pumpkin, also known as Rouge Vif D’Etampes. You’ll recognize its classic shape, which artists copied when they drew Cinderella’s fairy-tale carriage. Cooks disagree over [...]
Got a dollar? That’s all you need to make a pretty arrangement for your Thanksgiving table. You see, many grocery stores have pumpkins on sale right now—poor, little wanna-be Jack O’Lanterns that nobody bought to take home and carve. Because the stores need to make room for fresh produce, they’re often willing to sell these orange orbs at bargain prices. Our local [...]
I’m passionate about almost everything in my garden (well…okay. Maybe not the Japanese beetles and thrips and all their buggy relatives). One thing I’m most passionate about is wildlife. Check out this late-summer butterfly that stopped to visit my tithonia flowers a few weeks ago. If you look closely, you’ll see that his wings are a little ragged, [...]
Yesterday I promised to list a few terrific trees and shrubs for fall color, and a promise is a promise. Here are a couple of my favorites: Purple beautyberry (Callicarpa dichotoma) – When this deciduous shrub loses its yellow leaves in the fall, it reveals clusters of gorgeous lilac and violet berries. Birds love the fall [...]
Have you looked outside your window lately? (Of course you have–what kind of a question is that? It’s fall, and enthusiastic leaf-peepers are out every weekend, winding up and down the roads in the north Georgia mountains, and along every other scenic route.) Autumn is spectacular this year, and the light has a lot to do with it. When the sun [...]
Passion. What does the word conjure up for you? To me, it means feelings of intense emotion, like love, desire, devotion, and excitement. Gardeners are usually passionate people, and often we fixate on something special. Maybe your passion is a rose with petals the color of a tropical sunset, all mango and gold and flaming [...]