Fifty-two weeks...

To begin with, much of Southern California does indeed have 52 weeks a year in which to garden and which I no longer have. I have found this very difficult to accept since moving here after living in a 52 week gardening zone. O.K. Now that I have said that, let me say that I love the book “52 Weeks in the California Garden.” Even though I no longer live in Southern California, I still go back to this book to read again some fact or recommendation.

(Wouldn't it be fun to color in the pansy?)

Robert Smaus has all kinds of gardening information to share. He does go week by week, starting in the fall, giving advice on everything from vegetables to roses to compost to weeds to garden design to watering. There are helpful charts and plenty of resources listed and cute little line drawings. Unfortunately, since this book was written over a decade ago, not all the businesses mentioned are still in business. But there remains plenty to be gleaned from “52 Weeks in the California Garden.”




I believe it was from this book (or at least this author) that I learned the very encouraging concept of “You have to kill a lot of plants to become a great gardener,” or something to that effect. I found that to be true as I gardened from year to year in California. I did in fact kill fewer and fewer plants over time. Unfortunately, I had to start all over in North Carolina and am still killing many plants. (Although, I don’t think it is all my fault.)




I have often wished for a similar book to help me through my gardening year here. Maybe one day I will write one. In the mean time, where ever you live, “52 Weeks in the California Garden” can be an inspiration.


Have a beautiful day!

California Garden...

On Friday, I looked at a blog by someone who gardens in urban Los Angeles. Seeing a few of her pictures made me miss my California garden so much. For one thing, she has an orange tree. I had THE most wonderful lemon tree. It produced tons of huge lemons which made awesome lemonade. And another of her pictures was of her string of pearls plant with blooms on it. I, too, had a string of pearls that bloomed for me. I think I must have given it to a friend when I left. Maybe I will have to find another one to grow here.




Missing my garden as I was, I had to dig through boxes and boxes of photographs (got to get those put into albums) to find some pictures of my California garden. I found a few. Not the one in particular I was looking for, of course. But these were enough for today. The little date stamped on the back (way before I had a digital camera) is Aug. 1998, so I had done quite a bit more in my garden by the time we moved.



It was a little city lot, only we were in more like a town, if you can call any place in Southern California a town. My simple rail fence really made a difference. It defined the space and provided a very charming back-drop for my border. (My garden here in North Carolina seriously needs the addition of a fence.)




My little doll with her little doll adorned the front porch for this picture. This morning she pointed out that the flowers in her doll’s dress matched the ones she was standing next to on the porch. What more could you ask for? (See? Even that porch is larger than the one I have here in the South, where porches are supposedly de rigueur.)


Have a beautiful day!

Very cold..

O.K., so it is cold here! I know, I know, it is much colder other places and I shouldn’t complain. Well, I am not complaining exactly. Simply stating a fact. For a girl from Southern California, it is cold.




Pots are huddled together, hoping to keep a little warmer that way.




The roses that have yet to be planted (if Rose Rosette Disease doesn’t get them) are tucked in larger container with leaves surrounding them like blankets, to hopeful help a little against the cold. It should be a tiny bit warmer for them against the house.




When I went to feed and water the chickens, there was ice on the top of their water. No surprise. But I found it interesting that they had pecked a hole in the ice to reach the water. Smart chickens. When I poured out the water, I discovered the most amazing ice structures. Stalactites of ice had formed under the sheet of ice. It was so incredible!



Ice had drawn amazing picture in muddy puddles. What creates the swirly whiteness of this ice? And look at the crystals made by the freezing mud.




My poor little Johnnies in my pumpkin pot sure look sad in the freezing air.




But thankfully not all of my Johnnies are frozen. This is why I plant them, so they can carry me through days like this.


Have a beautiful day!

Nemesia...

When I lived in Southern California, I planted a rose named Sweet Vivian that my dear friend, Carol, gave me in a half oak whiskey barrel that one of my sisters gave me. Underneath the rose, I grew Nemesia. The original ones were deep blue. It may have been the cultivar 'Blue Bird', although I am not positive about that. However, they reseeded themselves and the seedlings grew up to have pale flowers that were incredibly fragrant. So, when I passed the whiskey barrel on the way to the front door, I would be greeted with this wonderful scent. And in California, the Nemesia wouldn't die in the winter. I would cut it back when it got too leggy and it would just continue to grow and reseed.




This year, I grew the cultivar 'Blue Bird' along my "stone" wall and 'Blueberry Sachet' in a pot at the foot of the deck steps. Yes, they look like miniature snapdragons because they are indeed related to snapdragons!




The Nemesia I have grown here in North Carolina hasn't reseeded itself or overwintered. This winter, though, I am planning to put it into my greenhouse and see if it will survive. I think it is such a charming little plant. I like it in pots, I like it in the ground, I like it on my "stone" wall. And I like it that the honey bees like it, too.



Have a beautiful day!