Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Daylilies-Oh those Daylilies!

From In the Garden
Rear West Border Bed ('Hyperion' and Common Daylily)

From In the Garden
'Gay Troubadour' or 'Howdy' (Thanks Jean!)
My Grandmother's Daylily brought all the way from Maine (Thanks Mom!). Does anyone know the cultivar? It would be from before the 80s. This daylily has a place of honor out front in the Roadside Shrub Border.

From In the Garden
'Highland Lord' (Front Foundation, Front Veggie Border)

From In the Garden
Unnamed (Crabapple Garden)

From In the Garden
Unnamed (Greenhouse Garden)

Unn
Unnamed (Greenhouse Garden)

From In the Garden
Old Fashioned Daylily

From In the Garden
Unnamed

From In the Garden
'Pardon Me' (Thanks Frances~!) (Bathtub Garden)

From In the Garden
'Cat's Cradle' (Rear Cutout Garden)

From In the Garden
Unnamed (Northside Shrub Border)

From In the Garden
Unnamed

From In the Garden
Unnamed

From In the Garden

'Double River Wye' (Thanks Marnie!) (Bathtub Garden)



From In the Garden
Name not known. (Bathtub Garden)

From In the Garden
Orange Unnamed (Rear Center Garden and Foundation)

From In the Garden
Unnamed Seedling

From In the Garden
'Pandora's Box' (Thanks Darla!)(Bathtub Garden)

From In the Garden
Unnamed

From In the Garden
Unnamed

From In the Garden
Unnamed (Sunny Perennial Border)

From In the Garden

'Hyperion'


From In the Garden
Unnamed (Northside Shrub Border Roadside Corner)

From In the Garden
Unnamed (Foundation Bed)

From In the Garden

Unnamed (Foundation Bed)
From In the Garden


Pink/Plum Seedling (Foundation Bed)

From In the Garden
Unnamed (Foundation Bed)

From In the Garden
Unnamed (Foundation Bed)

From In the Garden
Unknown. (Foundation Bed)

From In the Garden
(Foundation Bed)

From In the Garden
Unnamed (Rear Center Garden)

From In the Garden
Unnamed

From In the Garden
Unknown (Foundation Bed)

From In the Garden
'Midnight Magic' (Front of Veggie Garden Border)


This is the first year ever that I've really appreciated the daylilies in my garden. This is probably the case because despite all the shade here these daylilies have finally gotten big enough to make a big show-and what a show it is here. I am trying to control the show though as I am slowly getting organized in the garden. My issue is that during each bloom season I am relocating and maneuvering plants around according to how the garden looks at that point. The problem with this method is that I can't possibly take into account how the garden looked two weeks earlier when something that may have gone dormant was blooming in that spot or how the garden will look two weeks later when something new is in bloom. Hence, I have flowers growing everywhere and have no idea what is what. One way I can easily organize my flowers are to post about them. This post is on daylilies. With pictures I can help to remember locations and even names of plants. This is always a good thing for me. Most of my daylilies are seedlings but a few are named varieties. All of the unknowns came from the Tin Barn in Trenton. Not all daylilies are posted here because not all are blooming. Mainly it is the tiny daylilies like 'Stella' and 'Going Bananas' and 'Itsy Bitsy' and a few others. If you perhaps recognize some of the unknowns please let me know what they might be so I can log it. Thanks.

in the garden....

Don't you just love daylilies?

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

No Mulch

By Skeeter

This past weekend was a work weekend in my Georgia Garden. The Saint rented a wood chipper to grind all the limbs from the trees he recently cut down. It was a hot, humid, steamy weekend and we really worked hard to get the limbs removed. We drank about 25 sports drinks to keep hydrated during this hot work. I had to call it quits by noon on Saturday as I dehydrated and got a terrible headache. I also lost my balance and fell over a railroad tie giving myself a nice bruise and scratches as I landed in the limb pile. Yikes, good thing I am a tomboy as it only hurt my pride. I do not know how people with outside strenuous jobs survive in the heat of a Southern Summer. They sure earn their money!

I revived over night and was back at it early Sunday morning. I was sure to take more frequent breaks and drink double the amount of drinks and this worked well with us both staying in the yard until 4:30. It was difficult work but it had to be done as I could not stand the thought of all those limbs laying around until fall. Plus piles of limbs attract frogs, mice, lizards thus food for snakes and we do not want snakes on our land.

I tried to load a video of the chipper doing its job but once again, Blogger does not want me to load videos. This is several times now so I guess for some reason, I will no longer be able to show videos. Anyone else having an issue with videos?

Anyway, in the video you would see how fine the chipper grind the limbs. It was to a powdery state thus useless as mulch in my gardens. I was really looking forward to some fresh mulch from this job, but there will be NO MULCH, In the Garden...

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,In the Garden

Monday, June 28, 2010

What is plaguing my Angel Trumpet?

Posted by: Dawn

I wished I'd thought to take progression photos but I assumed this issue was a one time thing. Nope, it was a three time issue.

Tina gave me an angel trumpet two winters ago and it did fine the first winter. It did not grow too much but took off once I planted it outside in the spring. Since the winter in Maine would kill my precious angel trumpet I dug it up and babied it inside away from the cold weather. Well, I expected it to lose some leaves and it did. The leaves turned yellow and wilted. Soon enough though the plant was looking good with nice green growth on top, big leaves and such. I was proud of myself!


Over time I noticed the leaves wilting and turning a pale green again. Upon closer inspection I could see.....just barely.....a tough but faint webbing with little dots suspended inside of it. Eww. I cleaned the trumpet off and washed the leaves with water and some slight soap.

Like I said this happened three times this winter but each time my trumpet had a nice recovery with good growth and then....behold the pesty problem. I'd like to know what this is and how to get rid of it for good. The pest has not bothered my other plants just my trumpet. I sure wish I could start the summer with a beautiful tree not just a thick green stick....


What is plaguing my trumpet vine? In the Garden

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

Friday, June 25, 2010

A Hosta Garden Tour

From In the Garden
One of the benefits of belonging to a garden club is you sometimes get invited to tour gardens you might not otherwise see. Such was the case when Beachaven Garden Club was invited over a member's daughter in law's garden. It was quite a garden too. I know hostas look great in May and June then kind of peter out later on in the summer, but this shaded garden had some pretty spectacular specimens that I think would look great all summer long.

From In the Garden
The drive up to this wonderful home on the river was quite a treat. Do you see the huge limestone blocks above? They were brought in from another home the owner's in laws used to own. They were simply spectacular and made quite a presence. The home was also surrounded by huge river rocks. All of we ladies in the club were simply drooling over the rocks-myself included. I don't think you can have too much stone in the garden.

From In the Garden
The hostas were no slouches either. I had no idea hostas could get so large here in the south but these ones were as big as ones I had seen growing in my home state of Maine. They were huge! Of course there were little ones to play off from the big ones, brightly colored ones and subdued ones as well. There was quite a mix.

The hostess was most gracious and invited the club in for a spot of refreshments and to enjoy the gorgeous river view. I think I can speak for all who visited to say a very hearty thanks for the wonderful tour of your garden Debbie. It was splendid....

in the garden....

Speaking of garden tours, last May my family and I had the pleasure of touring Freda's lovely garden in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Well, if you are a subscriber to Southern Living magazine you may have noticed her garden in this month's issue-so you too get to tour her garden through the magazine. Freda is quite the designer and has a wonderful garden. If you haven't visited Freda do so and enjoy her tips for a deer proof garden and beautiful cottage gardens. Also, go get that Southern Living magazine and let her know you saw it! Blogging is great in that it brings folks closer together and makes the world a smaller place where we get to see magazine worthy gardens and the such-in person and on the web as well as through published work.

One more note, please weigh in on the poll on my sidebar. Thanks.





Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Cutting the Mighty Oak

By Skeeter

I showed you the lightening struck oak tree on Tuesday's Blog. The tree was struck just before our planned trip to Tennessee. While in TN, we attended the wedding of our niece. It was an outdoor wedding under a tent on one of the hottest days of the year. Thank goodness the reception was inside in the cool Air Conditioning. Just one month prior, this entire facility was under water from the flood! Lots of hard work and the facility was back into shape for the wedding.

My dad, the grandfather to the bride, was not sure he would be able to attend the wedding with his hip jumping out of place and leg now in a brace. Brides mom came up with the idea for him to be driven beside the tent so he could easily slip out of the back of the van and into a seat to view the ceremony. The Saint was his chauffeur and it worked well. Shorts, no shoes and all. A Wedding with a touch of redneck but hey, I am the one with chamber pots in my garden right?It was a beautiful wedding and all went according to plan. Here you see the beautiful bride, her groom and my parents just after the wedding, before the Saint drove dad up the hill to the reception hall. The Saint returned back to Georgia that following Monday while I stayed on a bit longer to assist my parents. I had a set back with my cars Air conditioning draining into the floor board of the car! Yikes, I was getting flooded out of my car with running the AC but in that heat, I had no choice but run the air. Luckily, the puddle of water was on the passengers side and I was driving alone. The car had just lost its warranty with my many TN trips so the Saint said he would repair the problem once I got back to Georgia. So down the interstate I go with a flooded floorboard. This is the sight I arrived home to see.
Can you imagine the look on my face to see this monster in my driveway? The thing weighs 22,500 pounds, moves about 3 mph and has one heck of a boom that can reach the tallest of trees!
I knew the Saint was renting a Cherry Picker of some type to assist in removing the large Willow Oak that was struck by lightening, but I had no idea of the type machine he had in mind! The Saint had already pruned up the tree and was now attaching the rope to secure the tree while cutting.
The rope was attached to the tree way up high, then around a tree in the woods, then back to the front of the house where the rope was attached to the machine. As the Saint directed the machine, the rope was kept tight, thus a perfect fall where we want the tree to land. Once all were happy with the rope being attached, they cut a notch out of the tree in the direction for the fall.
All was going as planned until the rope broke! Yikes, they had to stop what they were doing and run to town for a new rope. Meanwhile, I sat in the sun room staring at the tree hoping she would not fall before they returned. And yes, the wind started to pick up! This was too close for comfort but I remained calm. I have all this on video but for some reason, Blogger will not load the video for me today....
A happy ending with new tow ropes being purchased, Quick zap of the Chain saw and the tree fell exactly where they wanted her to land. They measured the trunk and the Willow Oak was 93 feet tall. This was a mighty oak indeed!I had the Saint also limbing up the two sweet gums that we plan to take down this fall as well as two other trees in the front yard. He also remove two more trees along side of our driveway that were a danger for future storms. The Saint and our neighbor (The one which gave me lots of Lilies) worked their butts off that weekend with removing many trees and branches in our yard as well as his yard. I had to joke with them that they picked the hottest weekend with record breaking temps to tackle this job. Silly guys....
Later that night, the Saint spotted this bruise on his thigh. He has no idea how it got there. I would think that hit would have made an impression with him but not so. He will whine over a fly bite but when playing with big machines and getting a big boo-boo, he never complains. Gee....

We now have tons of limbs on the ground. The Saint has been cutting them into long branches for a chipper which we will rent soon. I can see lots of pretty mulch in my Gardens near future....

That was some job and stress CUTTING THE MIGHTY OAK, In the Garden....

Note: The Saint repaired the car within 10 minutes! AC Drain clogged. He is my hero...