Forgotten Camellia

Just beyond the top of the dead oak tree, there's a clump of shrubs that used to be part of the gardens here. They were likely planted years ago by Mrs. Russell, before the trees reclaimed the area. There's a stand of quince that bloomed even in heavy shade. I moved some of these to the yard two years ago, although mine haven't bloomed yet and seem unlikely to do so this year.

Surrounded by orange ditch lilies, crocus foliage, and mahonia, there's a single camellia. The blooms are the same as those on the shrub in the yard. I wonder if she took cuttings and propagated this one herself. I wandered out back yesterday to get a closeup. This spring, once there's new growth, I plan to take cuttings from this shrub myself. I'm thinking of planting a few along the back yard. Azaleas, abelia, and other blooming shrubs will be added when the time is right. I've already started propagating the spireas.







It's St. Patrick's Day. Wear something green. It's 36 degrees this morning. No frost. The forecast calls for 65 today.

9:33am - Spent the last hour "propagating" things. I've pruned some hardwood sticks and shoved them in the ground where I want them to grow. If it works, I'll have a backyard full of spring and summer blooms. If not, I've lost only an hour of time, outside, with a cup of coffee. I stuck Sweet Shrub, camellias, mock orange, forsythia, spireas, vitex, Korean lilac, weigela, althea, pussywillow, and crape myrtles. I think that's all.

New growth, new blooms, new foliage:

My fragrant, unknown spirea is starting to bloom.



The Korean lilac is leafing out.



Peonies.



My "dead" loropetalum isn't quite dead yet. Nell Jean was right.



Stuck cuttings of forsythia and mock orange. I may be too late for these to root, but the very wet soil should help.





Peach blossoms will be here by the weekend. The plums are smart, they're waiting.



New growth on the Oakleaf Hydrangea that I've tortured since finding it in the backyard in the summer of 2007.



Red Pussywillow is blooming.



And lookie here, my tulips are going to actually bloom this year. A testament to the cold winter we had. Only two out of the 40 bulbs I planted in the fall of 2007, but hey, that's two more than I had last year.



It's been a good morning already. I'm off to shower and work in a few.

Haircuts.

I mowed the yard for the first time this year. There really wasn't much mowing to be done, but I wanted to mulch up some leaves and chop the wild onions growing all over the place. I'm not a grass freak. Whatever grows is welcome. The clover is taking over in some areas. Eventually the bermuda grass chokes it out.

In some places, I'm very nervous about mowing. After last year's accident with the hateful lawnmower, I tend to stay away from certain areas. Here's the "path" near the swing in the back yard. All the rain has washed away what little soil was there exposing hundreds of new potential accidents. I'll get out there soon and rake again, just to remove the lose ones.



It was a nice, cool day. We did reach 62, but it never felt like it. The wind has been blowing most of the afternoon making it comfortable in just a light longsleeved shirt.



Across the street, the forsythia is really showing off.



Pineapple sage, sown only a few days ago, has germinated. I found more seedlings at the end of the driveway where my plants were last year. I thought it would be a reseeder.



And the figs in the cloner...You're doing it wrong. The roots are on top with nothing below. I've been given advice to just lay them on moist soil and keep them humid. They should continue to root.



Finally, my own haircut. It's the best picture of the whole lot. The rest made me look like a serial killer. At least I just look like a stalker here.



It's 57 degrees. The hangover is gone. I'm hungry.

Thinking about the kitchen

I decided this morning to spend some time cleaning and organizing the kitchen. Robert should be coming out next Wednesday afternoon. We'll spend a day and a half getting things ready for the cabinet install. There's electrical and plumbing work to be done as well. Yay.

Before pictures, after the hutch was moved into the little hallway off the kitchen.







I want to take up the floor. Under several layers of linoleum, 1/4" plywood, and some other things I dare not ask about, there are hardwood floors. I know there will be some damage, but I'm curious. I will take a few hours this evening to see if it can be done.

Outside, I planted the 12 clearance ferns on the North side of the house. The last 5 heucheras went in that bed too. Some of the hostas need to be rearranged next spring. I don't like the straight line I made when I planted them.



I also planted the two peonies in the new rose garden.



I watered the entire north side and the front bed. I planted three rooted forsythia in the shrub island.



I pulled everything but Jackie's spirea from the bed next to the basement door. I'm still not happy with that space. I'm thinking gardenias or letting the centipede take it over. No pictures cause I hate it.

I finished planting the Icicle Speedwell and scattered some fresh echinacea seeds from one of my own plants.



I want to do a few more things outside, but I know I shouldn't press my luck. Slowly, I'm getting things planted out. I want to go into winter with only new cuttings in pots and containers.

It's cloudy and 70 degrees. It's a nice day to be outside. It looks like rain. We did have a shower last night. Hardly enough to wet the bottom of the rain gauge, but I guess it still counts. There was a nice storm heading this way from Charlotte a few hours ago. As usual, it petered out just a few miles from here. I watched it on the weather.com radar map. Seems that happens a lot in the summer. Must be the lakes and hills.

I'm really starting to like the coleus and impatien bed out front. The tiny wintersown hosta are still tiny.

New stuff

Cleome. The seeds were collected from pink and white Sparkler series.



A white salvia? I have three of these plants. Cannot remember planting them. That's not unusual.



Coreopsis "Full Moon" is filling in nicely around the garden.



My first pumpkin bloom. It's a male. No female blossoms in sight.



Watermelon



Brugmansia. The one and only plant with blooms or buds.



Recently sown cucumbers, squash, and nasturtiums are up. Beans too.



The potager is a mess. No rain is slowing everything.



Recently potted cuttings. Hydrangeas, figs, forsythia.



A familiar sight, the water sprinkler in the perennial bed. I bought a manual timer yesterday. I can set it to water for 1 minute or 120 and anywhere in between.

Wordless Wednesday Morning

Ok, so it's not really a wordless Wednesday for me. But for an hour this morning, it was. I had my coffee outside. I listened to the birds and the sounds of the traffic on the highway a couple miles away. I actually sat and enjoyed the moment rather than thinking about all the things going on in life, or planning my next move in the garden, or worrying about obligations. Sometimes, doing nothing can be far more rewarding.

It's 52 degrees and partly sunny. There's a chill in the air. Thunderstorms expected this evening.