Uncategorized Archives - Page 2 of 46

FRIDAY FLOWERS: WHITE GINGER LILY

By Libby|2017-09-07T21:00:49-04:00September 7, 2017|Friday Flowers, Uncategorized|

Today is all about the
White Ginger Lily
or
Hedychium Coronarium
or
Butterfly Ginger Plant

Just how beautiful is this?
And, its scent matches its beauty!! It is sweet, and tropical, and reminiscent of honeysuckle.

These ginger lilies grow by spreading rhizomes, disappearing in the winter and re-emerging in late spring.
By August (in my Zone 7b) the plants are about four feet high and the vertical flowers start to emerge. What a sight! And what a scent!

The plants will easily and happily over-winter in Zone 7b and south of that. But don’t despair! If you are north of that you can easily dig up the rhizome and store for the winter. Just the way you handle dahlias…
Believe me, it’s worth it. Grow them in full sun and both you and the plants will be happy!

FRIDAY FLOWERS: DAY TRIP TO PINE KNOT FARMS

By Libby|2017-03-02T18:21:13-05:00March 2, 2017|Uncategorized|

PINE KNOT FARMS

This is a very unusual destination!
Hellebores is the ONLY product you can buy here.

Dick and Judith Knott Tyler have owned the farm and run the business since 1982. They know hellebores! They have written books and articles, they travel extensively to broaden their hellebore knowledge, and they give talks to many, many groups. I first heard them at the North Carolina Botanical Garden when I was new to this area…and to hellebores! Now I am hooked.

As far as the eye can see…hellebores!

And here are my new “babies”

Pretty special, aren’t they? In about two years they will have doubled in size and be oh so gorgeous. Stick around and I’ll show them to you!

It IS a long drive from our area. Take a lunch, or […]

FRIDAY FLOWERS: HELPING PLANTS SURVIVE THE COLD

By Libby|2017-01-26T18:13:01-05:00January 26, 2017|Friday Flowers, Uncategorized|

It’s winter and it’s cold.
But unlike us, our plants can’t come inside for warmth…so how to give them a little help to survive winter’s cold? If you have a lot of snow cover so much the better. But if it is just plain cold, they may need and appreciate your help.

This very helpful article is from the North Carolina Agricultural Extension in Chatham County. While it is written for my area in North Carolina, in Zone 7b, it offers some very helpful and relevant information on protecting plants anywhere. Take a look:

“When Is The Damage Most Likely to Occur?”

Many factors impact whether or not a specific plant is damaged by cold temperatures, including snow cover. Extremely cold temperatures often follow a winter storm. If the storm left behind a blanket of snow, plants are less likely to be damaged – especially low growing plants, bulbs, and dormant perennials covered by snow.

Time of the year also makes a difference. When extreme cold occurs in the early part of winter (Jan – Feb), most landscape trees and shrubs, fruit trees, and berry plants are fully dormant and unlikely to be damaged.

Later in the season (March – April), many plant parts are more susceptible to temperatures below freezing, especially flower buds. Late […]

FRIDAY FLOWERS: ACUBA JAPONICA

By Libby|2017-01-12T17:47:46-05:00January 12, 2017|Friday Flowers, Uncategorized|

I have a very healthy Acuba Japonica in a large pot on my terrace. It’s very happy: partly shaded under a Japanese Maple, with lots of enriched soil in the pot. Over the last few years it has grown ( a lot!) so I like to use the branches as greenery in my flower arrangements. Perfect.

Here you can just see that long green leaf on the left:

Here, in another arrangement, you can really see those nice green leaves:

Every few days I empty the vase to refresh the flowers and the water and after about ten days..and much to my surprise, the Acuba had rooted! I mean, it ROOTED!

I put it back in the water, and a few days later pulled it out again:

Very healthy roots, right?

And here it is, planted and ready to keep growing:

I lied! I actually have three Acubas, all slightly different. But they all do well under the tree and cutting the greens helps to keep the size in check. For more information all about this wonderful, versatile […]

FRIDAY FLOWERS: AMARYLLIS YES OR NO?

By Libby|2017-01-05T14:43:32-05:00January 5, 2017|Color, Friday Flowers, Uncategorized|

Today’s flower subject is Amaryllis.
How do YOU feel about them? Do you like them? Do you grow them?

I’ve only grown them twice, in the very distant past. But this year I was given one by Marian St. Clair who stayed with us for the night while giving a (fabulous!)
talk to our Garden Club.

There it is! “Cherry Nymph”, kindness of Marian.

Because I was/am fascinated by this plant, I decided to do a daily photo journal. Would you like to see? Read on…..

I planted it in soil on December 12 and, because I didn’t read instructions carefully (sound familiar?) I put it in a cool, fairly dark spot. NO NO NO! Nothing seemed to be happening, so thanks to Longfield Garden, I moved it to a warm, sunny, bright spot with lots of sun. And so it flourished . I didn’t start the photo journal until I really had something to show you, which was the day before Christmas, December 24th.

And then, on the 24th I noticed ALL the pesky fruit flies around the plant and in the kitchen . Oh yuck, what […]

IT’S LOCAL: A MUSEUM DAY IN CHARLOTTE, N.C.

By Libby|2016-11-10T17:05:07-05:00October 30, 2016|Uncategorized|

A “museum day” in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The offer came via email from The Ackland Museum, of which I am a member, while we were in France. I emailed them to yes, please, reserve a place for me.

The itinerary was: first stop at The Mint Museum, then walk to lunch at Mimosa Grill, then walk across the street to The Bechtler Museum, and finally, by bus, to a private house to see the stunning contemporary art collection in their house designed by their architecture daughter specifically for the collection. Quite a day!

I’ve only been to Charlotte once and that was to a different part of town: you can read about that trip HERE.

screen-shot-2016-10-29-at-5-26-14-pm

First stop: The Mint Museum Uptown which is “the oldest art museum in North Carolina.” More specifically, we went to see the exhibit “Women of Abstract Expressionism.” What an absolutely fabulous, ground-breaking, visually overwhelming show. It is, of course, focussed solely on women painters in America from 1945-1960. Most of them I knew something about, had seen their work, and had studied them in Art History courses. But a few were new to me: Jay DeFeo and Perle Fine were […]