The people's voice of reason
The people's voice of reason
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November in the South can be summed up as "a good weather" month. The weather is good for going to ball games, hiking, traveling to places far and near and best of all, for gardening. Anything I have ever planted in this month, whether annuals or perennials, have thrived. Not too hot and not too cold, and in the words of the Three Little Bears, "just right". I have searched through the gardening centers and have noticed the Johnny Jump Ups (violas), pansies, and different varieties of dianthus...
Hoorah for fall, as it is now upon us. When we think of fall, we visualize strong color. Our garden color scheme can be jazzed up with yellows, golds, purples, and oranges through several plants other than mums. Find purple in lantana, along with yellows and gold. Lantanas do well in the fall and have few requirements besides sun and are drought resistant. Just plant, water in really well, add a tad of fertilizer and watch them take off. Marigolds, both the dwarf and tall size, have a rich...
September, the transition month between summer and fall, is the month for lots of celebration from Labor day to football victories, and back to school rallies. Also, I suggest it is a great month to travel the region in search of beautiful gardens. These gardens have reached the zenith of growth and beauty. One that comes to mind is the Birmingham Botanical Garden which is only 1 1/2 -2 hours from Montgomery. Birmingham and the State should salute this elegant, well-maintained garden with many...
For all the words I have uttered about what a cool spring we had, these words have morphed into, what a hot humid summer we are living through. The Montgomery Water Works is pleased to send enormous bills to further support my declaration of this long hot summer. I had to replant vinca which usually do not thrive in the shade, but there they thrive, getting only about 3-4 hours of direct sunlight. Vinca can be planted now and through mid August, but start to flagged in September when the nights...
I hope everyone has kept their patriotic spirit up since Memorial Day the end of May because the 4th is upon us. Happy Birthday America. We know that the new settlers from Europe came to the shores of this country with deep roots in gardening. Be it herb gardens, vegetable gardens and flowers thrown in the mix, they looked to gardens for healing and sustenance. I have been to Williamsburg several times and loved seeing these historical gardens laid out from authentic plans, with historically...
With Memorial Day behind us, I hope we can keep our patriotic spirit through June until the 4th of July. Do not take down the flags, plant a red, white and blue flower bed, or travel to Boston, Philadelphia or to Jamestown, Virginia to immerse oneself in patriotic fervor. Check out some biographies from the library on Samuel Adams, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson for starters. And for the 4th, bake a Flag sheet cake covered in white icing, with strawberries for the stripes and blueberries...
May Day has been celebrated throughout the world since ancient times and the festivals held commemorated the astronomical mid-way points between the spring equinox and the summer solstice. One of the earliest celebrations stemmed from the Celtic festival of Beltane. I can remember as a child in elementary school, watching the erection of the May Pole and being taught, along with other classmates, to weave the wide pastel colored ribbon around the pole. The May Pole had a bonnet of flowers at...
I wonder if there is any month of the year I do not like. April is the time we enjoy many flowering trees and shrubs. Gorgeous Japanese magnolias are about to finish blooming, but forsythia, lorepedulum, dogwood, cherry trees, red bud, azaleas, Indian hawthorn are just spectacular. Montgomery and surrounding areas are simply a fairy land of vibrant colors and fragrances this time of year. Fertilizing these trees and shrubs should be at least an annual routine, but some just do not get around to...
March madness in our part of the country describes the many tasks that befall the avid gardeners when the temperatures get warmer and we suddenly see our gardens with a clear eye. Where does one start? I always start with the planning instead of the planting. If we made a rough plan last fall, then time to get it out and make decisions. Are we changing color schemes? Should we add perennials and biennials? Should we have a formal plan where we have long swaths or entire area with one plant and...
By the time February rolls around each year, there seems to be a reawakening. Bulbs shoot forth and flowering trees come out of what I term hibernation. Montgomery and the surrounding counties will soon have the appearance of a fairyland of flowers shrubs, trees and bulbs. Pansies planted last fall will perk up and bloom along with snap dragons, and dianthus. We should be seeing evidence of poppies forming tiny gray-green clusters close to the ground. Nurseries should be stocked soon with...
January has always been to me the month which can be a let down after the hurry and flurry of Christmas and New Year's social whirl. It is a time for rest and reflection which usually brings a myriad of New Year's resolutions. Do you write these down and reflect on these promises you made to yourself throughout the year? Can you even remember the resolutions made last January? And if you do remember some of them, were these promises met? I always make a garden promise that I will create the...
Christmas is just around the corner and it is a busy, busy time of the year. It is also good to remind ourselves that we should busy ourselves getting closer to family and friends. Plan activities and outings to include children such as viewing the lights at the zoo, or going to a Holiday Pops concert, or having a Christmas cookie bake-a-thon at home. Then make enough to share some of the cookies with residents at a local nursing home. So do not let the time slip away, just start planning the...
Everyone loves a holiday, and in the south, we do love holidays that have a close association with food. And Thanksgiving is a prime example. People plan their menus weeks in advance and have family and friends over for a meal which is really a feast. The sideboard groans with casseroles, turkey either roasted or fried, dressings with who know what all has been added, and the desserts which would win first place in many county fairs. But the real meaning of Thanksgiving is just that-we as a...
I can remember as a little girl with 2 other sisters growing up in Dothan, that it was always the fall and spring of the year we scurried around doing "fall cleaning". Windows, porches, closets, rugs, baseboards, in and out and up and down the house got the steely eye of all involved. White gloves were worn to touch surfaces to insure that no crack or cranny was left untouched. Those were the days when everyone pitched in and got it done. Unfortunately, I am not as meticulous in the house as I...
The month of September begins the season of county fairs, local festivals, football games and rodeos, where people are no longer at the lake or at the beach for long swathes of time. I have friends with homes in Highlands who have been gone since May and will be returning in September. Normal routines and schedules return for us all, and that should include the care and maintenance of the garden. Fall also means lots of leaves drifting to the ground and extra work raking, blowing, mulching or...
I heard some neighborhood children talking about school books and school uniforms and thought, "where has the summer gone"? Really. When the school bells ring, the summer is technically over and so early. And what do our flower beds tell us about their state of affairs? Most are mature with tall zinnias, cleome, phlox, cosmos and salvias in large drifts, just begging to be cut for flower arrangements. If there have been any deaths, all we need to do is re-sow the zinnia, cosmos and cleome; fill...
First of all, HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY to all of our readers. We do have so much to be thankful for in this wonderful country of ours. So, be proud to be an American. July can be a brutal month for the garden with intense heat and in many years, drought. For those of us who have sprinkler systems, we are basically in control of our flower beds and can make the needed adjustments of the time and amount of watering. This means that we are aware if some areas get too much water or some areas of the bed...
As I was busy hoeing out the pink and white buttercups or Oenothera, which proliferates like mice, someone tapped me on the back and wanted to dig out the rest to replant in their garden. the first question I asked, was why? They responded that it is so delicate and beautiful appearing so easy to grow. They wanted to relocate it before it turned to seed so they would have more next year. And I said," it is ok with me, just know that they can get away from you, quickly". Which brought up the...
We have often heard that April showers bring May flowers and this proverb should hold true for us since there has been plenty of rain. I also hope that each of you have experienced a wonderful Easter time with much joy now and in the future. It is amazing how this cool, cool weather lengthened the life of pansies, snaps, geraniums, petunias, and spring blooming shrubs. In past years, I would be pulling out these flowers and would be planting for summer. Now, I will not replant until sometime in...
As life should have it, mistakes can be made when composing on the computer. Please note that in rereading last month's article, I saw a typo that I thought I had corrected prior to sending. The ground cover featured and also referred to in the article should be Vinca Major and not Vinca Minor. Mea culpa. The weather has been so volatile, warm some days followed by freezes. Hopefully, by the time of the release of this article, spring will have arrived in all of its glory. Cheers for the...
March is the month I describe as the front door to spring.With the winter blues and the unusually cold season, I am definitely ready for the crisp, cool and clear days just ahead. Have you heard someone tell you, in a somewhat dismissive manner, to go fly a kite? Well, we should all heed the suggestion as I have read that this sport can relieve anxiety and stress. The art of flying kites harkens back to early civilizations, China being one. If we really think of the aerodynamics of thrust and li...
Weather. Weather. Weather. It is as important to the garden world, as location, location, location is to the real estate world. With the coldest winter so far this season as I can remember, there are two bright spots--one is that is has killed a myriad of insects, and two, the peach growers and other fruit growers are happy with the number of cold days necessary to produce the fruit. But as the saying goes, this too shall pass. Now lets get on with late winter plantings and tasks. February is a...
The period of time between Thanksgiving and Christmas can make one believe one is in a time warp, for literally time flies at the speed of light. Everywhere there abounds crisper air, and the bustle of children and adults gearing up for one of America's greatest holidays on December 25th. From now on, all eyes are on the countdown of days until Christmas. It is a time of year that many think beyond their own family's needs, and reach out in unbelievable ways to make those less fortunate to be a...
Pumpkins abound, colorful leaves sail to the ground, county fairs come to town with Farris wheels that turn round and round. There is a definite deep fresh coolness that pervades the early mornings and a marked clarity in the sky in November. The humidity and heat have lifted and I am energized to finish gardening tasks that I have been remiss in completing. My first priority will be to set up a daily schedule to plan, shop for new plants for late fall and winter, and to execute. Sometimes I...
When I travel country roads in early September, I see what I term the hargingers of fall. Last weekend in mid September I did just that, and viewed a magnificent array of wild flowers in fields, ditches, and peaking out of woodlands. I saw Goldenrod swaying above and below the elegant and stately iron weed with its flat panicles of brilliant purple; rusty red leaves of sumac; the light blue chicory plant; black-eyed susan; other types of helianthus or yellow daisy flowered plants; blue...
