Remember this? Now it looks like this: I discovered these while on my witch hazel walk. Lady Slipper Seed Germination As related by William Cullina in The New England Wild Flower Society Guide to Growing and Propagating Wildflowers (affiliate link): "The typical lady-slipper seedpod contains between 10,000 and 20,00 seeds!" The reason they have so [...]
October 2009
How to Plant a Lot of Crocuses
October 22, 2009 – Posted in: How-toFor years now, we've enjoyed the crocus display along one side of our driveway. This spring I decided it should be even bigger, and over the last two days I planted a hundred more, bringing the total to over nine hundred. The "soil" is compacted clay, making the corms somewhat difficult to plant, but, happily, [...]
A Good Year for Witch Hazels
October 20, 2009 – Posted in: Flowers on the Brain, Native/Invasive, What's up/bloomingIt is a family tradition to walk up the hill and into the woods this time of year to seek out the witch hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) blossoms. This is a native shrub or small tree that prefers moist, acidic soil--which we have in abundance. This is a plant that has romantic connotations for me. (Narcissus [...]
First Snow of 2009-2010
October 16, 2009 – Posted in: WeatherLast night it snowed. That, in itself, is not unusual for the second half of October. But normally we get flurries mixed with rain, and no accumulation. Yesterday a weather record for snow accumulation was broken. The official new record is 1.2 inches accumulation. The old record was "trace." And unofficial reports coming in tell [...]
Colchicums: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day October 2009
October 15, 2009 – Posted in: Colchicums, What's up/bloomingYou might think after a 26F freeze there would be nothing left blooming in the garden, but you would be wrong. The colchicums continue to shoot up new blossoms. Pictured above is Colchicum autumnale 'Album'.Early on in my colchicum acquisitions, I discovered three different varieties that, to my eye, were indistinguishable. It turns out a [...]
Snow? Noooo!
October 12, 2009 – Posted in: Garden Tweets, WeatherYikes! Snow predicted for Friday! This is happening too fast for me. Just had first hard frost (26F) last night.
What’s the Difference Between a Frost and a Freeze?
October 11, 2009 – Posted in: FAQ, WeatherLast night the National Weather Service issued a frost advisory for our area, and we did indeed get a frost. They are issuing a freeze warning for tonight. What's the difference? I contacted a member of the local weather station staff. He told me that Both [the frost advisory and the freeze warning] are only [...]
Colchicum Design Ideas from Montrose Gardens
October 10, 2009 – Posted in: ColchicumsMany gardeners complain that it is difficult to place colchicums in the garden because of their unusual growing cycle, in which their leaves grow in the spring, die down in the summer, and then the flowers emerge in the fall. The colchicum bed at Montrose Gardens in Hillsborough, North Carolina, pictured above, contained many colchicum [...]
One Chore Begets Another
October 5, 2009 – Posted in: Garden chores, Garden TweetsSpent 2 hours cutting dead stuff down (mostly peony foliage), revealing weeds that will have to be pulled another day. Sigh.
GWA in Raleigh: The Movie(s)
October 3, 2009 – Posted in: EventsOne noticeable difference between this Garden Writers Association Symposium and the one I attended in 2007 was the increased presence of video recording. Not just the movie function on the ubiquitous digital camera, but more sophisticated set-ups were also used. Here's a sampling of what's been posted on the web: I just happened to be [...]
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