green

progress in the front yard

2009-06-04T10:27:00.003-04:00

Not helping, just being cute!

before shot...

I've been doing a good bit of digging in the front yard, when it is not raining that is! We got 9 inches last week! The rivers are overflowing their banks and the peepers are peeping in the yard! I put some shrubs in front of the porch
- Kalmia "snowdrift" nice big leaves for a Mtn. Laurel, compact 3'x3' heavy white bloomer
- Sambucus "black lace" purple leaved Elderberry
- Lonicera fragrantissima - Winter blooming honeysuckle
- Hamamelis "Arnold's promise"
- Calicarpa "Athens"
- Rhus - A chartreuse staghorn
- A deciduous azalea "Golden lights"

bud to cloom

2009-06-04T10:22:00.002-04:00

Peonies! One of my all time favorites... At work we have several patches of them planted in the front yard and everyday we cut a huge bouquet to put on the counter. They smell delicious and if anyone asks we force them to take a bloom away with them! No one has objected yet, absolutely makes for a better day!

I love seeing the seed heads in the centers immature... then after all of the petals fall off they slowly ripen and burst open...

wisteria gone wild!

2009-05-11T18:02:00.003-04:00

These bad girls are rampant in the edge of the woods behind the nursery! They are at least 4 stories tall! Climbing fearlessly through many trees, taking no prisoners! I must admit, it is beautiful!!! This is the invasive Asian wisteria. At the nursery we sell the native, Wisteria frutescens 'Amethyst Falls'.

2009-05-11T17:58:00.002-04:00

We are super blessed to have Fraser Magnolia (Magnolia fraseri), a large leafed native deciduous magnolia, on the land! It blooms so briefly and so gracefully! Huge buttery blooms give way to unusual seedpods in the fall...

2009-04-26T09:45:00.001-04:00

Spring is EXPLODING at the nursery! Here are some shots...

Apple blossoms

Kwanzan Cherry

Rhody about to bloom

Nothing like fiddleheads!

Columbine

2009-04-12T10:28:00.002-04:00

Columbine blooming in one of my hyper-tufa rock gardens.

Another trout lily in the backyard.

My faithful friend & petal head!

Birthday gifts of rhubarb and saved seeds: California sunflower and Blue Hubbard squash!

A pretty image

2009-04-12T10:27:00.001-04:00

'Nature Girl' by Graham Carter

what's growing on

2009-04-09T08:14:00.002-04:00

in my gardens...

Celandine Poppy! A shade grower and sign of spring.

The rosemary has been blooming for weeks!

Honeysuckle is ready to bloom when the temperature gets just right!

My new job!!!!

2009-04-06T08:19:00.002-04:00

I have started working at A Garden on the Hilltop here in Brevard NC. It is a beautiful garden center with a full plant nursery! We have a shop with garden related tools and gifts and the yard is all shrubs and trees right now, but soon the perennials and annuals will be coming in! I have already used my "tab" to buy a Vitex Agnus-Chastus! Danger... let's see if I actually make it home with a paycheck! I am working holding down the fort for my boss, the owner John, a very nice man and have a lot of leeway as far as arranging plants and planting in our permanent gardens, and I will also be doing landscape design for our landscape company! YAY!

LAying stone

2009-03-20T09:33:00.002-04:00

Thanks to a kind donation from my friend Keenan who works at the stone yard, I have begun a beautiful path from the driveway to the walkway/ front porch. It's a lovely Tennessee sandstone leftover from some big job that ended up in the "free" pile... It was quite a bit of weight for the old Subaru, but she brought it home! (After we put some air in one of the tires!)

Starting the dig in...

The other side of the front yard...

I found tons of these big nasty grubs & squarshed every one! (with the shovel! not my bare hands!)

Handsome fellow!

Emergence

2009-03-20T09:25:00.002-04:00

Some seeds starting to poke their heads out of the soil... germination station in full effect in the basement!

Sunflower!

Cucumber

Happy Vernal Equinox!!!

2009-03-20T09:08:00.003-04:00

OH JOY! THE FIRST DAY OF SPRING! I am beside myself and will be spending a large portion of today planting stuff in my garden... I have some misc plants, who have survived the winter, left over from closing up the nursery last year.

This is a shot of our kitty Soloman, sleeping in the sun up against the rosemary shrub (must smell heavenly!) I spottedd him through the greenhouse window, therefore not the clearest photo!

Wild cherries gracefully sweeping against the edges of the woods....

Grape hyacinth

An incredible treasure... the entire back of the lot is covered in trout lilies! They're amazing!

Pure Evil

2009-03-20T08:58:00.002-04:00

This article is completely insane! You May Be Arrested Soon For Growing A Tomato. All I can say is clearly this woman is a complete asshole....

I digress...

2009-03-19T09:38:00.004-04:00

I finally learned to knit this January, thanks to my amazing teacher, Astrid. This is my first sweater! I must admit, it has become a bit of an obsession and other things, like folding the laundry, fall by the wayside...

The Biltmore House

2009-03-11T15:30:00.002-04:00

Paphiopedilum, Lady Slipper Orchid

Inside the hothouse

Big cactus!

Magnolia bursting open... YAY spring!

Winter honeysuckle (smelled great!)

Happy Full Moon!

2009-03-10T16:56:00.003-04:00

Spring is around the corner when the Earthstars pop out of the ground! These crazy fungi are Gasteromycetes, or "stomach fungi". Their fruiting bodies are a stomach-shaped sac filled with dry spores. They are related to puffballs.

When it rains, the outer two layers of the peridium split and uncurl, forming a "star" with 4 to 12 rays. The inner layer of the peridium remains a closed sac. The rays spread with enough force to push aside leaves, raising the spore-filled sac above surrounding debris. Sometimes the rays even lift the earthstar high enough to break the connection to the parent mycelium. The rays close when they dry, and the sac lowers.

Valentine's Day

2009-02-20T09:14:00.002-05:00

When Shane told me he really wanted this Daphne plant that his old roommate had kept for years, and it's so pretty and it smells so good, and even went so far as to bring a piece of it home in hopes to root it, I got excited!

So I searched online after local nurseries had none... And sure enough, Garden Growerhad it! It made it all the way from Oregon arriving the day before Valentine's Day! Whew!

Daphne odora 'Aureomarginata', Varigated Winter Daphne, is an evergreen shrub with long glossy green leaves with yellow edges. FRAGRANT flowers as is the case with the family in general. We're keeping this one as a houseplant here, out in the summer and in in the winter as it is zone 6.

Spring's coming!!!

2009-02-16T09:02:00.004-05:00

I did a massive planting job for and with my dear friend, Diana, last fall. When I closed down the nursery a lot of the plant stock went into her yard, and it doesn't look like much right now but there are some signs of great things to come!

fresh Lupine leaves unfolding

baby Yarrow leaves

A really cool varigated sedum

Clematis!

Daffodils blooming already!!

Currently reading

2009-02-15T10:23:00.002-05:00

"The New Organic Grower: A Master's Manual of Tools and Techniques for the Home and Market Gardener" is my current gardening read & I love it! Who knew to underplant corn with soybeans! Excellent! This is perfect for fight now, middle of February, spring's so close I can smell it... And the garden is being planned with so much anticipation!

"Our house...

2009-02-11T15:00:00.005-05:00

...is a veryveryvery fine house,
with 2 dawgs in the yard,
life used to be so hard...."

Bandit and Mecca in their super new pen! They love it!

We have only one tiny strip of grass along the side of the house and it's a pathway! Yes that's right... we are Americans without lawn! woohoo! No pesticides, emissions from mowing, crabgrass or lawn envy/pretension! So far it has some flowers and herbs and has been used for some veggies... I have BIG plans for it! Those boxes are cold frames.

This is a crazy old fountain that Lindsay never used & looks like it would make a spectacular rock garden...

Composting heaven! and yes, the spinner totally rocks!

This is a very bad shot of the backyard veggie growing area... it's huge and "L" shaped... I'm in *loooove*!

Our house...

2009-02-11T14:53:00.000-05:00

full moon

2009-02-08T21:42:00.002-05:00

The moon is bursting outside in the night sky and it has inspired me to do some research on gardening by the moon. An ancient practice based on the same theory of the moon pulling the ocean tides, it also draws on subtle bodies of water, causing moisture to rise in the earth, encouraging growth.

What I've learned so far... In the first quarter, the new moon, causes seeds to swell. This and increasing moonlight creates balanced root and leaf growth.Planting seeds in the new moon allows them to germinate in time for rapid growth brought on by the full moon, strong moonlight = rapid leaf growth. Seeds will absorb the most water at the time of the full moon. This is the time to plant above ground crops.

I've been a bit slack buying my seeds this year, so I might plant some tomorrow and I might wait some for next month... Coming soon: germination station!

Happy full moon!

New home

2009-02-08T10:58:00.003-05:00

Shane and I moved into our friend Lindsay's house and we just love love love it! It has a super great attached greenhouse too! I'm in heaven!

My hero

2009-02-08T10:54:00.002-05:00

Inspired by Chris I went and created my own hero... I couldn't figure out how to name her something like "Garden Girl" or something of that sort so she's "The Amazing Feathered Condor"! I would also prefer her weapon to be a hoe or something, but the only choice that wasn't a real weapon weapon was the stick! Pretty cool!!!

I'm back!

2009-02-01T10:25:00.001-05:00

Wordpress was too annoying and confusing, so I have returned to blogger...! I am allowed to change my mind once in a while right?!

movin...

2009-01-10T12:08:00.004-05:00

I'm moving over to wordpress... see you there! xo
green

Merry Christmas!

2008-12-25T16:09:00.001-05:00

in a few days...

2008-11-24T09:17:00.003-05:00

my main man and I...

will be going to my friend's wedding...

on the fabulous island of Tortola!

woohoo!!!

Owen's Orchids

2008-11-24T09:03:00.002-05:00

This is a local orchid grower with many many greenhouses full of these beauties! These pictures are something of a "manifestation board" since I'm am completely obsessed with them hiring me! Please please please give me a job! I will love the plants!

The Jade is blooming!

2008-11-13T12:50:00.001-05:00

A very proud moment... A jade in bloom! YAY!

The spare room...

2008-11-13T12:36:00.002-05:00

Our porch was out of control this summer, filled to the brim with our houseplants! They thrived during their time outside in the sun and the rain, but then when frost threatened, we had to bring them in! I brought the big 1,000 watt light from the shop and hung it from the ceiling fixture in the back room and overnight, our house grew a lung!

Mother of Millions about to bloom...

Unidentified succulent blooming...

Abutilon blooming!

2008-11-13T12:32:00.000-05:00

Our porch

2008-10-13T17:24:00.002-04:00

All of the house plants spent summer outside on the porch and loved it... sunshine and fresh air!

closing the nursery

2008-10-13T15:44:00.002-04:00

Due to redneck strife, I have packed up the nursery and moved on... One of my better decisions I must say! There are some very exciting developments in the future of Green nursery - but all is on the downlow for the time being... Some snaps from the day we tore it all down...

Birdhouse gourds going crazy on the fence! There were so many hidden away under lush foliage - I was shocked! I did find a really cool design for a gourd lamp online... hmmm... could be some holiday gifts...!

Luffa gourds also growing on the fence

Moonflower ready to burst open

Mina Lobata "Spanish Flag" on the fencepost

Pictures from France

2008-09-21T22:17:00.002-04:00

A massive hanging, blooming rosemary shrub

Olive trees for sale

Eschevera in a fabulous urn

Menton

Limoncello...

2008-09-21T21:52:00.003-04:00

A southern Italian digestif drink made from the rinds of regional lemons (traditionally from the Sorrento lemon), alcohol, water and sugar. When we were staying in Menton, minutes from the Italian border - we actually crossed the border one night to indulge in delicious pastas - Ben and I found a really cool shop that cooks up the limoncello right there in the back and sells beautiful bottles in the front... Yes, of course I brought a bottle back! It is delicious! My friend Chris in NY knows what's up and makes his own... I think I'm going to have to make some too! Much better than the harsh moonshine we all keep in our freezers round these parts...

There were lemon trees for sale

The back room where the magic happens

I love these huge corked glass bottles where the limoncello macerates for several weeks

more snaps from France...

2008-09-19T09:43:00.000-04:00

2008-09-18T08:57:00.001-04:00

Old take on a hanging pot

Rock gardening is a way of life in Southern France where the climate is so hot and sunny....

A terrace dripping with plants

I loved this blue window with pots of succulents on the sill...

on holiday!

2008-09-06T03:33:00.004-04:00

I am spending the next 2 weeks on the French Riviera with my Mom's side of the family, which is 90% female and Italian... We are staying in a big old French villa from the 1880's... bien sur!

There is a fabulous jardin complete with palm trees...

olive trees...

and massive rosemary shrubs!

and of course, wireless internet!
a bientot!

Princess party at the nursery

2008-08-18T12:49:00.002-04:00

Mahalah Grace is the daughter of one of my dearest girlfriends... She is 4 and I got to babysit for the weekend while her parents were in Chicago at a wedding. Her 2 favorite things are mermaids and princesses in no particular order... We had a really good time and wore tiaras (real ones of course) all weekend!

Dot and Diana came to visit too, and we made all sorts of crafts! The beads and glitter and crayons were everywhere!

Tag! You're it!

We're posing under some of the sunflowers we seeded in jiffy pots this spring!

After a long day, watering the nursery, in my tiara, with a glass of wine!

2008-08-18T12:39:00.002-04:00

Native sunflower

I love this baby gourd growing next to the big mama one!

Helinium "Tiny Dancer"

Echinaceas are being hybrid into amazing shades... here is a pink cone from the "Summer Sunset" variety...

A little out of focus but still pretty, Swallowtail on a yellow echinacea

cosmos in the garden

2008-08-18T12:23:00.001-04:00

more sunflowers...

2008-08-18T12:13:00.002-04:00

I realized last spring, after receiving all of the packets of seeds I had so carefully selected, that I forgot SUNFLOWERS! So one day I was in kmart and saw a Martha Stewart packet of 5 different varieties and threw it in my basket. What a great impulse buy that was! The sunflowers are the best I've ever grown!

2008-08-10T09:36:00.002-04:00

I just love these zinnias and sell huge bouquets at the tailgate market...

The already controversial (some people complain I need a bigger or brighter or whatever sign - but so what - it's just what I wanted and if you miss it, maybe you just weren't meant to come pester me!) sign is becoming overwhelmed by flowers planted at the base!

butterfly party

2008-08-10T09:29:00.002-04:00

the butterflies are swarming! it's truly amazing!

2008-08-08T22:06:00.002-04:00

I hung a "closed till 1" sign on the door of the nursery on Saturday and spent the morning selling plants at the tailgate market. I met a bunch of people and some of them walked away with plants!

I found a huge black widow spider in the basket of sempervivum (hens and chicks) after a lady bought one... Had to smush it after she walked off!

2008-08-08T21:54:00.002-04:00

Finally I got a snap of the hummingbird in the agastache!

Some crazy metalic bugs

This hawkmoth was sleeping on the floor one day

the sunflowers are AMAZING!

2008-08-08T21:37:00.005-04:00

I planted half a dozen different types of sunflower around the perimeter fence of the nursery and the show has begun! They take my breath away and the bees butterflies and all sorts of other insects are drunk in love with blooms big and small....

2008-07-24T17:00:00.002-04:00

Sooooo close to blooming! This might just be my most amazing display of sunflowers ever! And there are at least half a dozen different varieties! watch out!

This is yet another great transplant, Crocosmia "Lucifer"...

2008-07-24T16:41:00.002-04:00

This is Cosmos bipinnatus "Psyche Mix", with sweet pink and white semi-double and single scalloped blooms. Started from seed and just started blooming this week! Really pretty!

This is the bloom from the Luffa gourds!

This is a native helianthus but I don't know the real name... Transplanted from one of the garden club ladies gardens.

what's blooming in the nursery...

2008-07-24T15:57:00.003-04:00

Borage officinalis is sown in with the wildflowers flanking the perimeter fence... It is a really lovely little hardy annual, regularly self-sowing, and I found it is a great companion plant for tomatoes, actually improving the flavor! (next year!) I was originally introduced to Borage in herb school. Medicinally it is a tonic plant for the adrenal glands, it is rich in minerals, especially potassium, a tea made with borage helps to reduce fevers and ease chest colds, and an infusion of borage acts as a galactogogue, promoting the production of milk in breastfeeding mothers.

This is Phlox paniculata, I'm going to say it's "Davidii"... I once took a plant exam as part of a job interview/application and one of the last questions was "Least favorite plant" and I responded with phlox. Why? Because it has never been anything but a powdery mildew nightmare for me... until now... Now it is absolutely gorgeous! This was a transplant from one of my little old garden club ladies gardens and I'm sold... She is striking and scented and completely devoid of any traces of powdery mildew! Phlox, I'm so sorry I talked any trash about you! My guess with the why of powdery mildew is, once again, exposure and making sure she has enough airflow and is not overcrowded.

This daylily is also a transplant from one of the ladies... very sweet pale yellow with a softly spicey fragrance... nice!

This is Hibiscus "Southern Belle". A really outstanding red.

2008-07-24T15:04:00.002-04:00

New friend in the yard! This little hummingbird has been coming by to visit the Monarda and Agastache... Katie Grace gave me a hummingbird feeder so I set it up but he seems uninterested in the sugar substitute when so much of the really good stuff is available!

There he is again, a blur, when he flew in during a downpour yesterday. Confused, he flew back and forth from front to back again and again trying to get back out but he was too flying high, so I let the roll up all the way up and he got out. Cutie!

Not so cute is this Tomato Hornworm, Manduca quinquemaculata, I found on one of my tomatoes. I actually first saw a huge amount of caterpillar poo, then looked for him, he blends in very well with the tomato foliage which he was decimating at am alarming rate! I'm not so good at squashing big bugs, not a fan of the crunching noises or guts spurting in random directions... so I put him in a bag, with some leaves, in the trash. Technically not my bad killing karma, right? However, he does have his own issues with parasitic wasps... " Larva that hatch from wasp eggs laid on the hornworm feed on the inside of the hornworm until the wasp is ready to pupate. The cocoons appear as white projections protruding from the hornworms body. If such projections are seen, leave the infected hornworms in the garden. The wasps will kill the hornworms when they emerge from the cocoons and will seek out other hornworms to parasitize." So I do feel for him, but not enough to let him destroy my heirloom tomatoes! If he was to survive all the odds, he would become a hawkmoth, and that's pretty cool!

Here's one of my all time favorites! Cardiosperum or Love-in-a-Puff, an annual vine whose seed pods puff out and form black seeds inside... The best part is that the membrane that suspends the seed inside the pod dries out to reveal a perfect white heart where it was attached! I love it & save the seeds religiously!

Shimmy, this one's for you!

lil babies

2008-07-18T17:29:00.002-04:00

These are Nepalese bell peppers, slightly hot (more so towards the center, more mild along the outer edges). They have this crazy sombrero shape like they've been squished... they will eventually turn red.

Golden Treasure pepper is an Italian heirloom, 8"-9" long and sweet...

A miniature birdhouse gourd! So fuzzy! probably to protect it from bugs...

And the biggest baby, 3 year old Arrowyn, having a fullblown naked sulk on the boat at Lake Hartwell, while her mama and I sat in the sun and chatted and giggled at her silliness!

new signage!

2008-07-12T17:13:00.002-04:00

The last line was painted on as an afterthought, since there was a bit of extra space at the bottom... but it's appropriate I think!

This "closed" sign is my favorite because I sprayed it with silver glitter spray paint! I think glitter makes everything better!

big mama philodendron!

2008-07-12T17:03:00.002-04:00

I bought this giant philodendron the other day because I just couldn't not... So I justified it by chopping baby plants off the sides and potting them up to become future big mamas!

Sometimes when Bandit gets needy he'll put himself in between me and whatever it is I am trying to get done...

The original plant is still huge after I took off all of these smaller guys!

2008-07-12T16:45:00.002-04:00

My roomie Rob got suckered into buying a $12 bouquet of gladiolas... The thing is, once you pull off the road to the little card table stand and some little girls say "Twelve dollars please" it's not like you're going to turn away without the flowers... and he had no bargaining power since he was paying with a $20 bill and is a very nice guy! They are beautiful blooms!

My California poppies, Eschscholzia californica, started blooming!

I spotted these Tiger lilies just starting to bloom while at a stop sign the other day... They're natives and I love them!

Luckily I spotted this little lightning bug in my shoe before I put it on... I felt a little bit bad taking a picture of him all stuck on his back and exposed but his phosphorescent booty is so interesting!

spiders

2008-07-12T16:23:00.002-04:00

There are all sorts of spiders all over the nursery and I try not to smush them unless they frighten me - usually in a jumping out and surprising me sort of way - or they are giant and deemed just too big... the nursery's just not big enough for the two of us, and you creep me out so... Anyways, I decided that this spidery guy is good feng shui in that he is guarding my lucky cat, who represents good fortune and protection, a symbol of Chinatown I could not leave behind me in New York.

This spider mess, currently located behind the front door, is a dilemma... Clearly baby spiders, but if I capture the whole webby mess in a solo cup and throw it outside quickly will they get on me? Something I would rather avoid...

Nice place for a Daddy Long Legs to nap! A few months ago someone told me that these spiders are lethal but their teeth are too small to bite us.. then he added that who knows, maybe they'll evolve into bigger chompers and take us all out for pulling off their legs as cruel kids will... Nice... now I'm paranoid. He does look a little bit pissed...

What to do with all of those extra pumpkin plants? Put them in the compost heap of course! There are 2 hot peppers in there too.

Bandit and the bugs

2008-07-12T16:07:00.004-04:00

This one's for my friend Chris Dean, or rather, for Max...

My boyfriend thinks he's spoiled... and yes, I suppose he is... but why not? He's just so cute!

This is a not good bug... actually egg cases of Squash beetles, which will hatch into little larval stinkers who will in turn demolish the leaf. After being documented they were promptly squashed.

garden porn

2008-07-12T15:46:00.002-04:00

One of the sempervivum flowering on a long tall spike...

Pods... I looove seed pods! I covet, collect, squirrel away, forget and then upon rediscovering, cast about seed pods... obsessively. This one is Baptisia, a legume but nonedible... Yummy, but not ready to pick yet!

A Veronica, Speedwell, blooming purple with a yellow Cosmos and green "Envy" Zinnia in the background...

Mimulus cardinalis, Scarlet Monkey Flower, I picked up on a whim at the herb festival this spring. Never having encountered it before, I am sure I bought it purely for the name "Mimulus", it sounds very magical and the "cardinal" could only translate into a scarlet bloom...

pretty views

2008-07-12T15:35:00.002-04:00

I drove around up on the parkway looking to see if the Tiger lilies were in bloom yet... I didn't see any, but the vistas are amazing!

We had a rainbow in our front yard after a rainshower...

Katie Grace came to visit with Ezra the other day and Ezra found herself a peach and immediately started to eat it... she only has 2 little teeth on the bottom but we suspect there are more coming soon!

After the peach her little outfit was totally soaked with peach juice and she got to go naked!

more stuff...

2008-06-28T12:54:00.002-04:00

Look away if you're squemish! Japanese beetle death camp! otherwise known as organic pest control... soapy water! they die really quickly...

I found a good organic weed killer online...

• 4 cups of white vinegar
• 1/4 cup table salt
• 2 teaspoons of dish soap
Mix spray on weeds in sunshine if possible.

Pods! I looove seed pods! Leave it to the little old ladies to pass on Papiver soniferum, AKA Opium poppy... we're going to water them really well and milk them by cutting little slices into the pod, the laytexy milk dribbles out and almost instantly starts forming resin.

I noticed this little roma tomato plant from the free tomato give away has already formed baby tomatoes!

Yippee! It poured down for almost an hour yesterday! We need some serious rain badly!

stuff...

2008-06-28T11:45:00.002-04:00

After breaking my back a few times potting things up out of soil in the wheelbarrow i realized I had the perfect potting bench in storage... This used to be half of my kitchen in my last (and smallest!) Brooklyn apartment. There was literally 2 square feet of counter space and I looove to cook so I got this little rack to add to my countertop real estate and storage... and now poof it's been transformed into a super stellar potting bench! And yes, the wine rack on the bottom will most definitely still be used for wine! Yet another great aspect of being the boss... European lunches and 5 o'clock cocktails (since I don't close until 6!)

My most coveted gardening tool. the horihori knife, a japanese digging/weeding/dividing/everything tool, was um... accidentally left on top of the car last week when I was transplanting some flowers on the side of the nursery fence... Then when I left a little while later and got up to speed - 55 mph - it promptly flew off the roof and smashed in the street! Thank goodness no one was behind me! so I turned around (horrified) and picked up the pieces... the handle had just cracked in half along the rivets so I got out my wood glue and some clamps and fixed it up... Sorry little horihori knife - I really do love you!

I got my first order of potting soil this week! A customer ordered what turned out to be half a pallet, so I got to keep the other half! I also got some great plant fertilizers, rooting hormones and neem oil for spraying bugs!

This soil is the best out there...

I chopped up all of my philodendrons and made babies... they are really great house plants - very forgiving and don't need too much light. Aren't they cute?!

KJ's craaaazy yard!

2008-06-28T11:25:00.003-04:00

One of my dearest friends. Kelly Jo, lives in a really cool log cabin home with her man and their baby, and upon buying this place she inherited a wild but wonderful landscape... This clematis is really striking, such a vivid purple...

KJ is a very knowledgeable herbalist and so it makes sense that this Achillea millefolium, Yarrow, grows with such wild abandon... "It opens the pores freely and purifies the blood, and is recommended in the early stages of children's colds, and in measles and other eruptive diseases." I love the umbel flowers swaying in meadows... I have some varieties in the nursery with red or pink flowers, it's great in full sun and can take little water once established...

'Thou pretty herb of Venus' tree,
Thy true name it is Yarrow;
Now who my bosom friend must be,
Pray tell thou me to-morrow.'

Also Stachys byzantina, Lamb's ear, is everywhere! all down the slope and happily seeded into the gravel path... it is so soft and pretty! Also great for super sunny dry locations!

poppy portraits, pt. 2

2008-06-25T15:58:00.002-04:00

I think this plant must be more mature than the one in the previous post, having these crazy raggedy petals inside the bloom... maybe she's just got her party dress on!

Had to call in my professional for sign assistance, math tutoring and electrical rewiring!

I'm learning how to keep ferns indoors, something I don't always agree with on a horticultural/moral level. Ferns just don't seem suited for indoors, maybe a greenhouse or wardian case, but not the dry forced air of a typical home... I have always struggled and they have always died... however, time to get up and over that mind set and now I grow ferns (I think I can, I think I can - that little train had such a hugh subliminal influence on my childhood and obviously now later in life)... proof being this happy little fiddlehead. Jeez, if not for any other reason, grow them to be able to say that word "fiddlehead"...

Poppy portraits, pt. 1

2008-06-25T15:50:00.002-04:00

I looove poppies! Their crepe paper delicacy is like butterfly wings...

2008-06-22T17:21:00.000-04:00

Have a beautiful day!

tomato overload!

2008-06-22T17:05:00.002-04:00

Something had to be done... I've sold and given away as many tomato and pepper plants as I could, but there are still so many and in 2" pots! Yikes! Today I transplanted them into 4" pots and next week is "Free tomato and pepper week".

repotted and fed with some fish emulsion

These little stinkers were raiding the echinacea! Into the soapy water with you! stinkers!

Announcements!

2008-06-22T16:51:00.002-04:00

The sweeeet new green nursery flier thanks to Kevin, my design wizzard!

You'd never guess what is going in the third studio space next to keith - A TATTOO SHOP! and yes, it is very "country" as in REDNECK! I met the guys yesterday and they seemed nice enough... I'm just wondering what it's going to take to get this place to pass a health inspection...

... maybe they should start by getting rid of the disgusting old mattress! Shucks, if this place was in NYC it would be a squatters' paradise!

It's almost blooming! Who says you can't transplant a poppy! This one dug out of one of the garden club ladies yards is about to busta move in the front flower bed... Life is good!

making babies...

2008-06-21T13:54:00.002-04:00

I had a whole bunch of out-of-control jades and other succulents (my nerdy friend Mark loves this plant classification - purely for the word "succulent") desperately in need of potting up and cloning... I call it cloning, basically I mean cutting up the branches or leaves and making new baby plants...

Here are the mamas in their new pots....

...and the new babies in their new pots...

I also put these "wandering jewels" (the purple ones!) and Swedish Ivy into hanging pots. I had made these babies from big giant mamas who had come from Brooklyn, and now reside on our porch. Very much happier from being trimmed up!

Around the nursery...

2008-06-21T13:33:00.002-04:00

Sempervivum throwing up a flower spike!

Japanese Maple, Cunningham Fir, Pieris Japonica "Mountain Fire" and a varigated Hydrangea everyone loves but is afraid to buy!

One of my most favorite ferns, Sensitive fern, Onoclea sensibilis, is actually quite tough... I often drive past a really great patch of it in full sun and then it was mowed and *boom* back and raging! Might I say...
FERNTASTIC!

This is a garden salvia I transplanted into one of my flower beds in the front... these butterflies (I'm not sure of the species) are everywhere & everyday I have to capture and release several who get caught in the nursery, banging themselves silly against the window.

At first I thought petals or blooms from another plant were falling and getting caught in this Dwarf mondo grass (dwarf mondo - how's that for a botanical oxymoron?!) but no... it's actually blooming!

Wesley's garden

2008-06-21T13:19:00.002-04:00

My first real design gig in Asheville is for my old boyfriend Wes. He owns a very cute bungalow in town which he has completely renovated and he has also built large stone terraced gardens and patios in the back. We started on the front, since that's the first impression people get when they pull up... It's part sunny, more shady closer to the house.
Here you can see: Oakleaf Hydrangea, Cimicifuga racemosa, TN Ostrich fern...

... Mahonia, Cornus Kousa, Seersucker sedge (a native here!), hakonachloa, maidenhair ferns, varigated polgonatum...

...Epimedium, dwarf polygonatum, aruncus...

stuff...

2008-06-21T13:01:00.002-04:00

We found this cutie sleeping on the side of the house! I think I woke him up while taking these pictures... bats are so great for eating massive amounts of bugs every night!

Ironically, my dear friend Diana got me this rain gauge in the middle of a crazy heat wave/drought! We haven't had rain for weeks! However, as I write this there is some booming thunder outside and Bandit has run off to hide in the bathroom under the sink... I told my roomie, Rob, we need to learn some rain dance moves! He waters his farm with rainwater collected from a gutter system set up on one of the outbuildings.

I pass this crazy moment in excavation every time I drive to my friend's trout farm & I love it! It's literally on the edge... What the hell happened here?

Uh-oh... any last words pal? He was squarshed immediately! On my zinnias that little f*%$@r!

ooooooo... Cosmos "Bright Lights" also planted around the nursery fence.

Happy Summer Solstice!

2008-06-21T12:19:00.002-04:00

It is officially summer and a truly gorgeous day here in Brevard! My friend Claire, who previously owned 'The Extended Garden' up the road, came by and bought one of my super-coolest-plants-in-the-nursery-at-this-moment: Maple Leaf Hibiscus... What can I say, she's got a good eye!

I'm celebrating the first day of summer with a photo tour of the Zinnia in the garden... Zinnia are one of my favorites and they are planted all along the fence of the nursery! YAY! Bouquets are slowly invading the homes of those I love...

This picture is a bit washed out - the variety is called "green envy" and it is a very pale limey green - looks amazing as an accent in a bouquet with the pinks and reds.... mmmm....

sad day...

2008-06-13T14:06:00.002-04:00

My landlord announced a few weeks ago that he is putting the property on the market... lucky for me he is asking$400,000... for barely an acre and a building that could more easily be bulldozed than renovated... I'm not too worried about it, if I have to move, so be it! That's just how it goes when you don't own your space.

At least the sign matches my car! ha!

stuff...

2008-06-13T13:47:00.002-04:00

I love this shrub, Mahonia bealei, growing here in a surprisingly stunning planting at one of the local banks! Mahonia grows in the shade, has beautiful leathery leaves, blue berries and pretty yellow blooms....

white squirrel sighting in the front yard! Yes, he does seem to be staring me down, notice the grey squirrel sneaking up behind him!

Being a huge Jack-in-the-pulpit fan, I had to have this print from a local antique store...

Foxglove love...

Blooming!

2008-06-13T13:15:00.004-04:00

Papaver somniferum, Opium Poppy, sown at my friend's house... They'll never get enough sun in this location to form proper pods that could be milked... but they sure are pretty!

These daylilies, Hemerocallis fulva, are often thought to be natives, when in fact they were brought over from Europe in the late 19th century as an ornamental. The thick tubers spread rapidly and are edible! We ate them like potatoes and fried up the blossoms as well in herb school... The beautiful bursts of orange line the roads, each bud opening for only one day and then wilting. We have a beautiful patch in front of our house... Maybe ten years ago, when I lived in Fairview NC, I dug up hundreds of these where they were going to be demolished due to road widening construction, and transplanted them to a friend's property. He had just carved a very steep driveway into the side of his mountain property and the daylilies grew in and created a mass that keeps the steep slope from washing out.

This is the bloom of the Castor Bean plant, Ricinus communis, a native of tropical Africa cultivated for the oil found in its leaves... the seed is very poisonous! I just like it because it looks weird and Dr. Seuss-y!

2008-06-08T14:34:00.002-04:00

My super craft open sign/bucket in action!

Rabbit (my landlord who operates earth movers and does all sorts of other random stuff...) put in a new spigot for me to use from the well up the hill. Now there's a great empty strip ready for some wildflower mix! Not to mention my superduper new blue spigot!

Rabbit also brought me this great piece of a log he found at Skinny's logmill! woohoo! I'll be planting something in there!

My new plantings along the fence!

what's blooming in the nursery...

2008-06-08T14:20:00.002-04:00

Echinacea transplanted from one of the garden club ladies' gardens... planted in my permenant perennial garden in the front.

Delphinium grandiflorum...

Digitalis grandiflora...

Larkspur... when the blooms mature they can be squeezed to expose the hidden "spur".

2008-06-05T17:29:00.003-04:00

Brevard North Carolina is absolutely beautiful! I passed some great barns on the way to visit a friend...

Flame Azalea, Rhododendron calendulaceum, in full bloom! This native lives up to it's name brightening the woods.

The Asheville area is having an erruption of 17 year cicadas... Not where I live, but north of Asheville, at my friend Diana's house, the buzz can be deafening! They come out every a7 years to live above ground for 4-6 weeks... They are everywhere! And being still something of a city girl, I am not down with big bumbling helicopters of this sort... when one landed on Diana and she calmly brushed it off, I screamed... she laughed... I was not laughing, in fact, I was quite paranoid after that....

Maiden plant buying voyage of the new Subaru, christened "Bubble", to Jack Young Greenhouses where I completely overloaded, but got some great stuff.... Castor bean plants, Maple leafed hibiscus, pawpaw trees...

photo credit: SPP (yes it's way better without the flash!)

A big weird garlic...

2008-06-05T17:08:00.002-04:00

Hitting the wholesale nurseries after 4 can be interesting... this is after the Budweiser's been cracked open and folks are sitting down... not me! They love to laugh at me and tell me the plants I really want are not for sale. These are the "Mom" plants or special trial plants... Then they tell me there's no way I'm going to fit all of those plants in that tiny little car... But I do! And they are impressed and crack me a beer. They are also at this time, inspired to dig me out plants from their own gardens and this is where this "Elephant" garlic came from... It' a stunningly architectural plant, creating an exclamation point in the garden, punctuating all of the pretty pretty blooms. It looks like an alien to me, some moon plant, and it REEKS! All the way home in that hot little car the garlic stinks like stink. Old Butch tells me, as I find an inch of free space for it, "Make sure your boyfriend eats some too or you won't be getting any!" Nice!

Interesting how the bloom mimics the bulb...

The last (hopefully!) load in the Scirocco! My new Subaru (new to me that is, a hand-me-down from my Mom) is on the road! The Scirocco has certainly proven it's weight in gold as a capable nursery vehicle! Thanks Shimmy for the loaner! You're my hero!

more hypertufa...

2008-06-05T16:11:00.002-04:00

I decided to go ahead and fill some of these hypertufa troughs I made over a month ago... The mix was too light - too much perlite I think - so a couple of the rectangular ones broke when I removed the boxes. The round ones molded onto woks were surprisingly strong!

I filled them with small succulent plants, mostly various sedums, and broke some branches off of larger plants to root in and become new plants.

Run Bambi!

P is for purty

2008-06-05T16:04:00.000-04:00

Peonies were blooming like crazy in the garden club garden...

Poppies too!

woodland transplants

2008-05-24T13:57:00.002-04:00

I dug up some woodland perennials in one of the garden club member's gardens, but don't really have a good shady spot at the nursery, so I took them up to my friend Shane's house in the woods. I made two patches of violets (a really cool upright bunching variety), cimicifuga (which was just roots with eyes), and Pulmonaria officinalis.

Bandit is very funny... when he sees me digging, sometimes he will come over and very gently dig at where I've put plants in. Maybe someday he will understand that the digging needs to happen before and not after the plants are in the ground. I'm not holding my breath on that one!

The bloom, slightly wilted, of the violet.

Bandit in the fern gully...

Calycanthus floridus, Sweet Shrub, Carolina Allspice, Sweet Bubby, is a beautiful native shrub here in western NC. This photo is taken from the car, it is growing happily on the side of the road! It prefers partial to full shade, blooms in the spring/early summer, and all parts of the plant are poisonous! oh, and it smells sweeeeeeet!

plants...

2008-05-24T13:46:00.002-04:00

You would not believe how many plants can be creatively squeezed into this little shirocco...

Another car load waiting to be priced... The Cornus were a real score!

These are a bunch of babies I took from houseplants...

It's hard to see from so far away (taken quickly while driving), but this is a bad ass GIRL driving the tractor baling hay! I don't know why, but I just love tractors... Hers was very cool!

changing every day!

2008-05-18T13:34:00.002-04:00

I've been doing a lot of work to clean the edges in the front of the nursery. I've put some flower beds in the front, double dug with a lot of mushroom compost and soil conditioner...

I squeezed this Saucer Magnolia, Magnolia x soulangiana, into the front passenger seat of the scirocco... the shrubs (Mahonia!) packed into the backseat were really amazing... it's like a clown car with tons of plants piling out of it!

Rob brought me some "scrap" pieces from the stoneyard that match the stoop stone... I put all of those grading and excavation classes from school to practical use! But hey, don't I know someone with experience in the grading business? where is he?!

I've been painting lots of new signage...

This is a shot of the new flower beds in the front...

beasts

2008-05-18T13:24:00.003-04:00

driving home from a nursery in Fletcher, NC, the other day, I came across the very big pig running down the street. It seems to have escaped....

This very big pig is in the doghouse since he ravaged the trash for half an old sandwich..

bad boy!

stuff...

2008-05-12T17:57:00.002-04:00

sometime Bandit has to share the front seat with plants... here he is with an Australian tree fern.

Can you see the rainbow faintly in front of the cloud?

geno! your painting rocks on in the nursery! loveyou!

Today I spent a couple of hours weeding with the ladies of the garden club of Brevard and they gave me a bunch to take back to the nursery... I was politely informed that you do not say "thank you" for plants in the south - this would cause the plant to die in your garden... Instead you say "isn't it lovely!"

Happy Mothers Day!

2008-05-12T17:43:00.002-04:00

My mom came to visit for a few days! We had a really good time, doing work in the nursery during the day and going to yummy restaurants in Asheville in the evening. Here she is with her gift of tomato and pepper starts...

Her boyfriend, John helped with many big "man" projects; the fence, securing the wonky front door and here, swapping out the yucky old gross flourescent fixtures for...

...pretty shiny new ones! YAY!

Yucky fixtures banished to the corner!

Even the bathroom got a cute little vintage schoolhouse fixture!

2008-05-12T17:31:00.002-04:00

WHoo- Hoo - how great is a box of plants in the mail!

Unwrapped...

I got some really great little guys at the big herb festival at the farmer's mkt in Asheville... Vitex, Callistemon and Mimulus cardinalis...

2008-05-02T17:13:00.003-04:00

My mom sent this great gauzy fabric to hang in front of the strange negative space over the bathroom... it certainly looks much prettier!

Hard to see, but the small tree in the big pot in the foreground is an Acer aconitifolium , a really special and gorgeous Japanese maple variety...

Every week more and more plants fill up the nursery... Less lately since the truck blew a head gasket and I'm transporting plants in the scirocco!

things i didn't see in New York...

2008-05-02T17:02:00.004-04:00

I used my PhD (post hole digger) to clear the mud out of the holes Rabbit dug on Sunday and then tamped in all 20 Black Locust split rails for the perimeter fence. Being new to installing fences, I had to be counselled on using the chainsaw before or after burying the rails to make them all the same length... it's after! And no one seems to feel comfortable with me using the chainsaw by myself! So the rails wait to be trimmed down.

So yes, I screamed like a girl when I flipped over a rail and found this black widow underneath....

and also when I found this one under another... this one was much bigger than the first and I ended up smushing them out of fear of them biting some one or Bandit, who likes to mess with bugs.

I have no idea what this lizard guy is, but he seems to have made his home under the stoop stone! I don't think he bites!

2008-04-27T16:43:00.002-04:00

This is a mural by Oliver Vernon, a friend from Brooklyn

Mahalah and Kelly Jo helped me plant some mammoth sunflowers and edamame seeds

Digging post holes with my landlord, Rabbit, and his son Trey learning to drive the big tractor

Aquilegia Canadensis blooming at the nursery! This columbine is an important source of nectar for hummingbirds and hawk moths.

Dientra "King of hearts" is a great compact, blue tinged foliage shade plant.

stuff...

2008-04-24T18:28:00.002-04:00

I transplanted hundreds of heirloom tomatoes and peppers that I had started from seed at home in the extra bedroom...

Jon Miller - the chip king - I salute you!

Today I made 10 hypertufa planters out of old boxes and some woks... After they cure, I'll plant them as little rock gardens.

Plants!

2008-04-24T18:20:00.002-04:00

Some shots of the perennial plant stock...

It was very exciting to find little baby sempervivum in one of my rock gardens from Brooklyn...

2008-04-20T16:51:00.002-04:00

A new plant nursery for annuals and great indoor plants...

nice tractor!

Special delivery! Sixpoint Craft Ales in Brooklyn NY sent a keg of Righteous Rye! Thank You!

Diana with the cash from her first sales! (she got promoted to Head of Sales!)

Katie times 2... Katie Grace lives next door and she was my first sale - Kalanchoe!

The greenhouse at the trout farm

2008-04-20T16:34:00.004-04:00

Chris has this great little greenhouse he keeps full of flowers and vegetables. He invited me to dig up anything to use at the nursery since he is ready to reseed the beds. I cloned a bunch of the coleus and transplanted dianthus into old berry baskets lined with clear plastic.

This is sweet little Pearl sitting in a planter... she sits in all of them!

Rainbow Trout are jumping!

Tara

2008-04-17T09:35:00.003-04:00

A friend and I were talking about Tara the other day, and I was trying unsuccessfully to describe why she has always been a goddess I have identified with, held dear... So, Shane, this is why! :)...

Tara means "star," "planet," or "she who ferries across." She is a bodhisattva embodying compassion in the female form of a young goddess. She is often considered to be such an advanced bodhisattva that she is actually a Buddha.

Tara’s name is said to derive from the verb meaning "to cross" or "to traverse". In Pali the verb tarati means "to get to the other side." This word is cognate with the Latin "trans" (across). The word Tara also literally means "star."

Green Tara (Shyama Tara or Dark Tara)) is seated on a white moon-disk. Her green complexion symbolizes the active function of the fully-enlightened being. The moon symbolizes her peacefulness. The moon is resting upon a lotus. The lotus symbolizes her freedom from any defilement, just as the lotus rises out of the mud of the swamp, but the blossom itself is pure and undefiled. In the same way, Green Tara arises in the world but is completely undefiled by the world.

Her posture is the 'lalitasana' or royal ease asana. Her left leg is withdrawn in the Lotus pose, to symbolize her mastery of Insight and detachment from the 5 Emotional Defilements (Klesha). Her right leg is in the Euro-posture in front of her body, slightly bent, with her foot on a lotus blossom. This signifies her ability to spring into action, to act swiftly for the compassionate protection of all sentient beings.

In each hand she usually holds the stem of a blue utpala flower. Each flower consists of three blossoms indicating that Tara, the embodiment of enlightened activities, is the Mother of the Buddhas of the past, present and future. The Buddha of the past is the Treasure Tower Buddha, the present refers to Shakyamuni, while the Buddha of the Future is Maitreya, the Buddha of Loving Kindness (Maitri or Metta).

Her right hand, (left-facing) is actually in the Dana or Varada Mudra (The Gift bestowing Gesture of Compassion) with the palm turned outwards. The five extended fingers in this mudra symbolize the following five perfections: Generosity, Morality, Patience, Effort, and Meditative concentration.

The left hand is held up, again with the palm facing outward, and grasping the uptala lotus. This is Abhaya Mudra the gesture of fearlessness and refuge.

This Tara was painted by Darma, a Tibetan friend I made while living in India. He taught thangka painting classes and with all of the money he made he maintained a home for orphaned Tibetan boys studying to become monks. I commissioned this piece from him (he asked $50, I gave him many times that), it made it's way to me in NY via a friend who also lived in NY but studied painting and yoga with me in India. This is the first time this thangka has been out of the protective tube and framed and hung and truly appreciated!

She hangs over command central in the nursery...

Another Tara image I found online...

Even Spider-Man has an intense Buddhist experience, thanks to his encounter with the Buddhist superheroine Tara.

My friends are the best!

2008-04-17T09:18:00.003-04:00

So my dear friend Kevin Beard, all around great guy (and yes NY ladies - he's single!) and amazing graphic designer, designed the green grand opening invitation! I have no technological skills, so Kev has helped me over time with different stuff, including my blogging (plant of the week! heeheehee)... As a part owner of Barcade, we worked the Sunday happy hour shift together (he managed and I bartended) for over a year, and he never objected to pre-opening Patron shots or my crazy ramblings and rantings! Thanks Kevin - you're the best!

You may have noticed I never post pictures of myself, because frankly, I don't think it's so important since this blog is about plants... however... technical difficulties arose *damnit!* when I tried to upload the pdf of the invitation that Kevin made, so I posted a picture of us boozin instead! Love you Kev!

truckload of plants!

2008-04-17T08:45:00.002-04:00

I had a very successful plant buying trip to two super great wholesale nurseries in Fletcher, NC, about half an hour from the nursery. Robert owns/runs Botanical Treasures, focusing on sun loving plants, and Butch has Dogwood Nursery, shade plants, adjoining.
Every inch of the truck was full... front seat (yes, they are wearing the seatbelt!)

Acers and ferns (native adiantum!!!) in the back of the cab...

They are all wrapped up in the truck bed to prevent the leaves and such from being too thrashed...

Voila!

In their new home! Now I just need about 20 more truckloads to fill it up! Slowly but surely!

more random stuff...

2008-04-16T08:35:00.002-04:00

Brevard printing made up these banners for me... they turned out quite nicely.

This is the (blury) invitation to the opening party on Friday night. It should be a pretty big to-do considering how many of these have been handed out! Now we're wondering, "how many kegs?..."

Keith took me out to his friend Chris Selle's trout farm yesterday. Chris starts lots of annual flowers in his greenhouse just to grow stuff and is ready to get rid of the current batch, so he has invited me to come dig them up and sell them at the nursery! He also gave me this rack with lights set-up he didn't need anymore!

Some little sempervivum fell out of their pot so they have a new home in a glass teacup on the window sill...