In suburban landscapes, landscapers come along and keep everything fresh, sweeping away, well of course they don’t sweep; don’t let me go astray on those horrible, polluting blowers, so sweeping away the detritus of plant life. Every fallen leaf, nut and flake of bark goes into a landfill. We pretend that nothing dies. It not… Read More
You’re making me Blanch…Etioliation
Etiolation: You know when you leave a bucket on the grass and all the grass under it goes sort of pale green and white? That is etioliation. It’s a plant response to trying to grow in low light intensity. When it finally reaches the sun, it starts to turn green (that is de-etiloation). We eat… Read More
Crinum for the Fourth of July
In our fields and gardens, we have some crinum lily in flower from April first all through the summer all the way to mid November. A different lily for every month. In our book, Gardening With Crinum Lilies 3, there’s nifty chart showing what flowers when. Always for the beginning of July, we have a… Read More
Mother’s Day on the Lily Farm
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Crash Course in Historic Gardens of Birmingham
In the 1920’s, architecture and gardens changed a lot. Some people, rich people especially, began to incorporate modern conveniences into house and gardens of traditional styles. In Columbia, an entrepreneur built his dream house. It’s in a style that was popular in more industrial cities and in England. It was of a style that looked… Read More
When I Found Blood Lilies in Africa….
Cows, pecan trees, okra fields, rusty tin roofs and plenty of racism just weren’t for this free spirited 19-year-old boy. So I ran hard to get away from that run-down family farm. In one giant, naive leap that freaked the family out, I left South Carolina to enroll, as the only American exchange student at… Read More
Plants & Problems of Wild Gardens
Naturalist Gardening Examples & Plants Where we are on the map. Walter’s climatic diagrams. What our woods look like. Echaw Creek, SC via Coastal Expeditions Inc. Bushhog Borders; Large grasses Erianthus ravennae, Juncus, Mulenbergia capillaris, Panicum, Spartina. Perennials Aster carolinanus, Conoclinium, Crinum bulbispermum, Hibiscus coccinus, Oenothera. Overseeded with clover, Linaria canadensis, Ratibida. Coppiced Shrubs Salix,… Read More
Deer Moss and Gum Drop Trees
December means hiking into a special dry place in our woods. It’s a bald spot, open and dry and sunny. A magic carpet of deer moss yields spongy with each step. Silvery green carpet colors, climb the little haw trees too. Lichens, with silver leaves. Only lichens are not plants, so they don’t have leaves. … Read More
Deer Moss and Gum Drop Trees
December means hiking into a special dry place in our woods. It’s a bald spot, open and dry and sunny. A magic carpet of deer moss yields spongy with each step. Silvery green carpet colors, climb the little haw trees too. Lichens, with silver leaves. Only lichens are not plants, so they don’t have leaves. … Read More
Kitchen And Pantry In The Yard — A Cooking and Gathering Garden.
Patrick, the client, turned this garden design upside down. The original plan was for a spiffy lap pool. But Patrick loves to cook and he really wanted an outdoor kitchen; not the kind with stainless steel appliances and an keg-erator. But a real outdoor kitchen complete with a pantry full of fruits and veggies. We… Read More