Monday, August 23, 2021

Gardening Southern-Style with Sharman 4

 Christmas Came Early!


Christmas came early at my house last night. What joy filled my heart at the sight of the name across those boxes -- Gardeners.

The lighter box contained 2 tub trugs as they are called, 25 standard garden markers, Garden clogs, rose gloves, a dirty little digger, one of my favorite hand tools, and a bag of Bio-tone Starter Plus Plant Food, something they use all the time on the You Tube Garden shows I have been watching. 






The Tractor Scooter came in pieces. I did try to put it together on my own, but fortunately my son-in-law, Mike Evans, with experience on bolts and nuts and washers as Service Manager for Hyundai who has now taken his talents to Techway Automotive across from Kentucky Fried Chicken on the Ross Clark Circle, saved me. He managed to get everything tightened up so that the thing will not fall apart first time I sit upon it.







And when I went out and got the mail I received the seeds from Eden Brothers: Zinnias, Nasturtium seeds, Red Corn Poppies, Sweet Peas, Larkspur and Daisy seeds. Inspired I went out and cut the Echinacea seed pods to collect the seeds. So now I have a lot to plant once PC comes to prepare my beds. JoAnne McFarland taught me the first time I planted a monet garden. I hope I remember!


This is my dream addition.

Gardening Southern-Style 3 August 23

Gardening Southern-Style 3 August 23

The continuing saga of Gardening Southern-style with Sharman. The last thing Joe bought over the internet was a power sprayer attachment to the hose. I have intended to use it on the playhouse for several years. I bought 4 tall slender plants to mask the side of the playhouse and decided it was now or never. It actually works once Cecily Ramsey and I figured out how to operate it. The really intriguing thing was the claim that it would get weeds from between bricks. Guess what? Not my weeds. So, I got my kneeling bench and sat upon it to pull the weeds I had slightly loosened. After 15 minutes fighting with one I decided the only thing to do was to poison those dirty word, dirty word weeds. Now that I have found my yard equipment, including weed killer I am moving forward.
The elephant ear closest to the gate is the one that got divided--about 8 I think. The gift that keeps on giving.

Butterfly garden check



divided and planted elephant ear bulbs check




began my new career in container gardening with 2 topiaries



Poisoned the bloody weeds! on the brick patio in intense heat, might I add.
Picture one is the newly divided elephant ears along the fence. Picture two is the boxwood container garden. It needs something more, I know, but it will have to wait. Something white I think.

Friday, August 20, 2021

Gardening Southern-style 2

 




Today was an auspicious day. I had my hairdresser take me all the way grey. Not just half grey and half brown. But, before I made it to the hairdresser I stopped at Lowe's and bought some new, sharp ended tools. I found my favorite tool, the hula Hoe for $19 while it was on websites one for $99. I also bought a post hole digger, a bulb digger, a new rake and a sharp shovel.
I did wait for it to cool off 3:30. Still hot. But not high noon hot.
Keeping to the plan I used to stick to when I had the big yard on Cherokee, I decided I needed to dig up the giant elephant ear in the garden now to be dedicated to butterflies. I needed to plant the Miss Molly butterfly bush and the yarrow I found at Dothan Nurseries. I managed to get the massive elephant ear out, divided and distributed through the back flower bed, though not planted. Too hot.
Then I remembered I needed to get the Miss Molly butterfly bush in the ground. I used the post hole digger for that and the yarrow and decided I would get down on the ground to tuck the little beauties in. That went well.
But then came the getting up part. I have had two hip replacements and the knees are begging for attention. But I was determined. Then I heard the voice of an angel. My next door neighbor, Gantt Pierce! I debated about 5 seconds on calling him for help. Afraid he might get away, I called him. Wiry guy though he is he lifted me easily. I am so blessed having him and Niki Blumentritt Pierce close. Niki heard Molly crying one afternoon after she fell on the concrete steps out of the gazebo and came to her rescue.
Joe would have chastised me for not having good sense and getting out there where it was so hot. Then he would have turned around and gone back into the air conditioning. He would probably have been right. But nothing ventured nothing gained. And I couldn't just sit inside thinking about doing something. When he was around I just waited for him to leave and then moved furniture or nailed holes in the wall. Or dug up elephant ears.
And I will probably go plant the elephant ears tomorrow.
Guess where the new tools are? Still in the car. It was too hot to go out and get them.

Monday, August 16, 2021

GardeningSouthern-Style: A Downhome Perspective on All Things Southern




Dr. Walter Van Fleet
Still my favorite rose. But I need a rooting!

I have been watching gardening videos while recuperating from Covid. I was sad that Dothan had nothing for its unique environment. And then I stumbled on to Megan Watson's channel. She has inspired me to start my own. Mine will be much different because I am an old lady looking for beauty with as easy as possible maintenance. Having other gardeners as friends is definitely motivating. Christie and Shelby Thomley helped me with that 2 acre lot on Cherokee that Joe and I once cared for. We met at Rayfield Vester's Master Gardener Class.

Our new home has a much smaller lot, but the gardeners here in Grove Park are serious. I have never seen a bigger sunflower than the one grown by Saundra Jordan and Wiley Jordan. Reva Carlise's cottage garden inspires me with the tour of her cottage garden by the street and her own "SHE SHACK" in her back yard. I rode by Michael Bailey and Catherine Griffith Bailey old home later bought by Sue Marie Shealy Coe and Mike Coe (I don't think they live there now, however.) and got inspired by the most beautiful hydrangeas -- White Annabelle or Limelight? (Not in Grove Park) Judy Bailey Wise brought beautiful camellia blooms to a club meeting and that inspired the camellia garden that will happen just as soon as things cool off a bit. I took Molly and Megan to PC's Nursery and hand delivered the list of camellias he will design my camellia garden with.
Of course, my mother as usual is the greatest inspiration of all. She loved her yard!!! She particularly loved daylillies and would go to Headland every year to the Daylily nursery there. I don't think it still exists, but I have found one owned by Randy and Sharon Pilcher called "In the Neighborhood Daylilies" http://www.intheneighborhooddaylilies.com. Mother started me off right. She started a little girl garden club, the Daffy Dillies, in the polka dot playhouse she made out of an Airconditioner container. I look forward to going to Ozark to pick up my daylilies, although they do deliver.
Saturday my little buddy, Molly, went with me to Dothan Nurseries. The first thing we spotted was a Miss Molly butterfly bush, which we definitely HAD to purchase because Molly even brought her butterfly purse, so of course it was meant to be. I am developing a butterfly garden so that was a must have along with the Yarrow I bought. I always tell John David Boone that coming to Dothan Nurseries is next to heaven for me. I also want to start a rose garden, but I have given my heart to David Austin Roses and sadly they do not deliver to Alabama. (Wonder why?) I do have a granddaughter in Panama City, so she may have to deliver to grandmother. That granddaughter Lily Butterworth, loves succulents. I must admit her affection has rubbed off on me. So one day when I was just cruising the Net I found a spot that made the most beautiful arrangements of succulents. So, of course, I ordered one.
Let me share with you something Molly and I found out! Dothan Nurseries now has a shed under which John David's garden fairies will build your container garden for you. And, if you love pretty pots as much as I do, you must go there. They have the broadest variety of pots, old fashioned flowers, etc. you will find. I brought my friends from Panama City there when I took them on a tour of the Botanical Garden. They were suitably impressed. One thing that I had to leave at our old house was the Doctor Walter Van Fleet rose that Marion Hall rooted for me. It is the ancestor of New Dawn, but a bigger bloomer, I think. As you all know, Marion designed the Camellia Garden at the Botanical Garden. Her mother, Eleanor Grant, (also the name of a camellia Marion propagated) propagated many camellias. All kinds of garden jewelry awaits you at Dothan Nurseries as well. I did a little web work for Rhoda Boone at one time there at Dothan Nurseries when the web was brand new and they were kind enough to trust that early endeavor. That was when JoAn McFarland with Dothan Nurseries did a Monet Garden in my front yard.
http://www.southern-style.com/a_southern_monet_garden.htm. I ordered Larkspur, zinnia and poppy seed yesterday and plan to make a grand effort in my back yard. I will see how this You Tube stuff works and share with you what I come up with here at the new place God has planted me. I finally got out of the chair and have done a little preparatory digging. Don't forget to subscribe to Megan Watson's gardening show. I look forward to learning from her! Southern Living needs a gardener in this area. Linda Vintner is in Oklahoma, Garden Answers is in Oregon, and Jim ..... is in North Carolina. If they are looking for a volunteer, my hand is waving!

After spending my Covid quarantine watching garden shows on You Tube, I have come out the other side determined to get out in my garden and do a bit of designing. I think every gardener brings some of their gardener parent with them into the garden. I go through a garden and see aspidistra and remember the great host that flourished under my mother's fig tree. I brought a lot of those aspidistra home to Cherokee for a shade garden there. Whenever I see a fig tree I think of Mr. Conti's fig tree in his yard from which he gave us an offshoot. I also think of Mr. Conti when I see red poppies because I planted some in my Monet Garden in the front yard. They grew in a mass and he would come and stand and remember his childhood in Italy where they grew in masses like that. (Bought poppy seeds yesterday. Eden, I think.)

I treated myself yesterday with a trip to Lowe's where I bought more than I could plant this morning. I figure a little bit at the time and perhaps my garden will achieve the Jean Burson design (everything she loved planted wherever she felt like putting it.) 

I plan to turn the playhouse into my she shack/potting shed as soon as Tex Rankin can come and add French doors, a deck and pergola to it. 

These are pictures of my current yard along with the after I envision

Imagine A gravel path from the driveway pad around the right side of the house through the gate lined with camellias. 



As you come in the gate there is now a fence and some very nice evergreens. 

Now imagine a hydrangea hedge in front of those evergreens. 


That hedge leads to the building formerly known as the playhouse now converted to a She shack with French doors, a deck and a pergola 



Behind the playhouse a nice shady area then becomes the garden staging area with an 8 foot potting bench a table and some comfortable chairs (or a hammock). I want to plant scuppernongs on the pergola. I have a fun picture of my mother, Jean Gillis, with cousins Naomi Kennedy and Joe Jernigan, getting snockered with scuppernong wine. Both my mother and Joe's mother had a scuppernong arbor. Apparently it is a southern lady thing. "The Recipe"


Behind this central bed, I want a shady spot just to hang out with my dogs GIGI and soon to be LOLA (a ShihPoo coming from north Alabama at the end of the month) and Cecily's dogs, Honey and Lacy. 


A gravel patio from the She Shack to the Gazebo


Behind this central bed


From here you look back at the house. To the left of the brick patio Gigi has worn a path toward the fence where some neighbor buddies gather. The gravel path will come in the back gate and veer to the left to follow this path to the brick patio. 
This would be the newest incarnation of the Monet Garden once in my front yard. I will fill that bed with mushroom compost to make sure it is rich enough for my vision. I have ordered poppy, nasturtium, Larkspur, and zinnia seeds. I will find a way to get the David Austen roses.






This brick patio will be beautiful with tables and container gardens like this one. 

I will plant a Mr. Conti fig tree in the front yard to mask the ugly utilities. An olive tree just adds interest, I think. And Citrus trees need to be a part of every garden these days just in case hard times arrive. A garden needs to fill several human needs--a passion for creating beauty, productivity, sociability, and a mental and physical challenge.







This is where I plan to put the "pottager" aka kitchen garden. Right now there is a pittosporum there I considered removing, but those are good for flower arranging. Behind that white chair that was Mother's and needs painting, but I used it to sit upon to pull weeds. Behind there is the butterfly garden. It has a giant Elephant ear that will be removed. I planted a Japanese Magnolia there in the spring and it was beautiful. I love it. Mother and Daddy had one right outside their window and they watched the same birds next there year after year. Drew built me the voting bench at the fence. I LOVE IT!





This is the elevated garden planter 8 ft by 2 feet I plan to put there in font of that white bench. Fruits and vegetables can be grown in containers. 

The Butterfly garden will be dedicated to birds and butterflies. 




This will be my gravel patio. 

Hopefully this will be a beautiful expanse of green grass. 


I will probably scallop in front of these statues and plant maybe daylillies there. 



The first year Joe and I moved in we planted Magnolias along the back fence. PCs also planted those drift roses in front of the Gazebo and in front of the front fence. We had to take down several river birch because of their intrusive roots endangering the foundation of the house.

We need more trees in the back yard and I am thinking of a flowering cherry, a pink dogwood, and a white dogwood along with a lot of shade loving plants along the back between the Gazebo and the playhouse. 
We had a Bartlet Pear on Cherokee that was quite productive. I think I will plant one right outside the gate where one of those trees came down. 

This is the plan. Step by step. We will see where this will go. 



























Sunday, August 1, 2021

IN SUPPORT OF MARJORIE TAYLOR GREEN

In response to Linda Turner, vice chair of the Houston County Democratic Party, Sunday, July 18 The question was asked, “What about Greene Impresses Local GOP?

 

 "As long as the child breathes the poisoned air of nationalism, education in world-mindedness can produce only precarious results. As we have pointed out, it is frequently the family that infects the child with extreme nationalism. The school should therefore use the means described earlier to combat family attitudes that favor jingoism...We shall presently recognize in nationalism the major obstacle to development of world-mindedness. We are at the beginning of a long process of breaking down the wall of national sovereignty. UNESCO must be the pioneer." UNESCO, 1949 

 

I am a Republican woman who sees current trends favored by the Democrats representing a direct path toward the expressed goal of UNESCO in 1949… and the ultimate demise of our country. 

 

For example: 

1. Disrespect for the Flag, our National Anthem, Founding Fathers, Free Speech, Police, Capitalism, National Borders, babies in the womb and newly born, Free Speech and Christianity 

 

2. Support for the misappropriation of language, Critical Race Theory seeing all history as Oppressors and Oppressed, subjugation by a white male patriarchy, Open Borders, Planned Parenthood and the mutilation of children through transgender sex change. 

 

3. Support for the belief that no crisis should be wasted to promote Man Made Climate Change, Electric cars (enriching China because they make the batteries because they control the rare minerals needed) and that the Covid Pandemic is the perfect opportunity to create THE GREAT RESET demanded by the World Economic Forum. 

 

What is THE GREAT RESET? Support for World Government building in a more "resilient, equitable, and sustainable" way—based on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) metrics which would incorporate more green public infrastructure projects; the third component is to "harness the innovations of the Fourth Industrial Revolution for public good,” undermining capitalism.

 

 4. Acceptance of socialist goals: As socialist Antonio Gramsci said, "Socialism is precisely the religion which must overwhelm Christianity[.] ... In the new order, socialism will triumph by first capturing the culture via infiltration of schools, universities, churches and the media by transforming the consciousness of society."

 

 5. Use of the Wrap Up SMEAR used against Brett Cavanaugh and Donald Trump. “You demonize and then you…We call it the WRAP UP SMEAR…You want to talk politics…You smear somebody, with falsehoods and all the rest, and then you merchandise it. And then you (THE PRESS) write it and they will say it is reported in the Press saying this, this, this and this and it gives it validation And then you merchandise it. It’s a tactic “ Pelosi, October 13, 2019. 

 

All of these tactics are used against Marjorie Taylor Green in Turner’s attack on the Republican Party. Yet in spite of the slander and lies, Marjorie Taylor Greene courageously stands against the Democrat agenda. She “stands in the gap” supporting all of us regardless of the intimidation and confrontation she receives from the Left.

 

And so I stand in support of Marjorie Taylor Green.