Camellias Planted!

Last Sunday I attempted to plant the new 3 gallon camellias, but my back went out on me. I was hurting real bad for several days. Yet I pushed on and took it very easy and by Thursday I was much better. I still have minor twinges but they are manageable.

Our three year old Camellia sinensis is blooming, it is a tea camellia. It has just been hanging on ever since we planted it, so seeing flowers on it was really nice. This plant has a long way to go before we can pick tea leaves off it it.

Three years ago we bought Camellia Sasanqua 'Tsumaorigasa' Our plant died this summer... But it produced seeds last year and we harvested some of them, but don't know if the seeds I planted germinated. Yesterday I found what looks to be a seedling next to the dead tree trunk, it could be a sprout, I'm not sure. Still excited to see our first natural camellia seedling in the garden. Camellias can be different than the parent plants, so we'll have to wait and see.

 

Camellia Sasanqua 'Moon Festival' our first bloom about 4 inches wide.

Not the best photo, it is pinker than it looks here.

Anyway yesterday I planted a 3 gallon Camellia Sasanqua 'Leslie Ann' and today I planted a 3 gallon Camellia Sasanqua 'Moon Festival' in the front side garden by the wooden fence. Meg and I cut down 3 Eastern Red Buds hanging over the garden, blocking sunlight. We also cut down a 6 inch Black Jack Oak, hated to take it down but that garden needs more sunlight.

I also managed to plant the 3 double hellebores I purchased weeks ago and 4 camellia seedlings sprouted last winter. I'm worried what I thought were camellia seedlings we dug up in Wilmington at Sharna's might not even be camellias, the leaves seem very thin when compared to the camellias I grew from seed. I have a new batch of seeds from her garden to sprout this winter too.

 I read somewhere about camellia apples, maybe NeilJean's blog. Never seen one before. Here is one from Sharna's garden in Wilmington, NC. Below is a freshly opened up seed pod. Now is the time to look for seeds on camellias. It might take 3-5 years before you know what the flowers will look like, so your garden would be full of mysteries for years... Sprouting camellia seeds, I wrap them in a wet paper towel and seal them up in a ziploc bag and wait 4- 8 weeks for them to sprout. I change the paper towel after 4 weeks.

The cold frames are all planted now, boxed but not covered yet. We'll have arugula, rainbow, carnival and nantes carrots, mesclun and gourmet lettuce, curly and lacinato kale, spinach, watermelon radish,  scarlet radish, Swiss chard and purple top turnips. We now have 2- 6 ft x 8 ft and one 6 ft x 10 ft cold frames. Two of the frames have lots of acorns falling on them, so we'll cover them before the oak leaves fall.

Meg planted a new kitchen window herb garden, with my help from the rototiller. She planted Saint John's Wort, Rue, Sorrel, Suchon and Yarrow. She brought these plants home from the Chestnut Herb Nursery at the Southeastern Women's Herbal Conference last weekend. She also planted seeds including chamomile, California poppies and echinacea. We had some Elephant garlic left over from some I bought this summer so she planted 3 cloves and some onion sets too.

I know I posted a photos of this fall crocus in a recent post, today they were open to about 5 inches wide, very cool.

Lastly this night blooming cereus had two blooms mid week during a cold and windy night. I have never seen one of these still open in the morning, but then again they usually bloom during the heat of summer. The cold air must have kept it open. We had acorns falling 40-50 at a time, it sounded like we were in a war zone! The acorns hit the roof, roll down and hit the deck and sometimes hit the metal railings.

Huge news, Meg agreed to cut Bubba down to 6-7 foot tall today. Bubba was a 14 foot tall avocado tree she planted from seed. Bubba for the past 2 years has been too big for our living room during the winter, leaning over more each year, it was nearly 90 degrees so we cut it off. Growing side ways, this year it grew several new limbs straight up and nearly 4 foot tall so we felt the new growth would take over.

The bees have been active and friendly, still bringing in pollen packets. I witnessed a small orientation flight today. I also noted lots of new bees just learning to fly clinging to the side of the hive, it was chilly so I think they are OK. Last thing this afternoon I saw a Worm Snake under the Leslie Ann camellia, doubt we'll be seeing any more smakes this year. Worm Snakes are less than a foot long and they eat slugs!

Hellebore seed collecting time!

This is a 'Red Lady' hellebore just opening up for seed dropping. Once the pods start drying up the pods will open and drop the seeds under the plant. This is the time for collecting them.

Here we missed the seeds, they are now under the plant.

These are hellebore seeds I found under the opened pod in the above photo.

Here is a 'Red Lady' flower I picked just before opening, I dropped it in a cup and let it dry out and I did not miss any seeds either.

The seeds can be planted in pots if you have the patience to water them and wait many months for them to germinate. I like to give them a special spot on the ground a just toss them on the ground and let nature do the rest.

When you collect seeds in your garden that the bees pollinated one never knows how the seeds will cross with the other hellebores in the garden. One must wait two to three years to find out what they will look like.

 We were givien this peony I believe.

This peony I bought for Meg as a mother's day present several years ago, it is growing nicely. It was purchased at the corner store which closed a few years ago, I loved that little store.

This Louisiana Iris has been in our garden for a very long time, mostly abused as it grows on the hillside to the pond. That is False Nettle, Boehmeria cylindrica on the right of it. False Nettle is the host plant for the Red Admiral butterfly, we have lots of the nettle and butterfly here. No it is not stinging either.

The tin man, I found this poor poor little fella in of all places the recycling bin! It broke my heart, but I saved him, Meg was very pleased as well.  Now to find him a home in the garden. That is Meg's Larkspur in the background. The bright green stuff behind the larkspur is our Swiss Chard.

Hellebore Seed Trade?

I'm working on compiling my taxes and had to take a break. Was out in the garden on Thursday and noticed we are about to have hellebore seeds on most of our flowers. I'd be willing to trade some seeds if anyone is interested? I'd like some species hellebores, doubles and hybrid picotees.

We have seeds of many different hybrids, dark red light red, pink and white. Bother Blue and Red Lady  also. Look at out plant list on the top of the right side bar, most of the hellebores labeled breezy have seeds on them. I'm thinking the seeds will be dropping very soon, so I need to be ready to collect them.

 Here is Red Lady popping with seeds, never noticed the seed pods so red before, but Red Lady has never done so well with blooms either.

Still in prime bloom Red Lady, see the older seed pod on the flower in the back.

Bottle Wall, Day Two

 Been working pretty hard and have not had the time to do much towards the bottle wall. We had a much needed rain last night and are supposed to get more today so I stayed home. Tinkered cleaning bottles, they clean easier when wet from rain. I do have a lot of buckets to soak bottles in too.

Here is a design I made in the creative zone.

After placing bottles into the design.

 A close up of my blue flower. The pink eye is a flower vase I found in the recycling bins, there was also a red one. See the triangle shaped blue bottle? That brand of vodka now uses blue plactic bottles, this one must have been around for a while before someone recycled it.

 This pile of cleaned bottles was almost used up making the design in the sand. I need more clear bottles a lot more clear ones. This pile is a fraction of the pile behind my shed, I took a photo, you do not want to see, nor does Meg.

I have been working on a page here with our plant photos on them. If you like hellebores you really want to see this page, it is a work in progress.

I wanted to take a photo of our Swiss Card before we picked any of it. Meg made quiche (if I got the spelling right) pie with it last night. It was yummy! Not had chard in some time as the greens in the cold frame have been filling our greens needs now for about 6 weeks. Still hard to tell any chard was picked?

Here is our Rape starting to flower. I think it is what is also called Chinese Broccoli. The mustard greens are also going to flower. The Red Mustard we planted Sunday before last is already showing red and green.

 The hyacinths have started to open up. These news ones are supposed to be fragrant, nothing like I can remember in years past. 

Last note. On Sunday while it was raining I planted some seeds inside, 4 kinds of tomatoes( Rutgers, Jubilee, Big Rainbow and Roma), Genovese Italian Basil, Sweet Basil, Common Thyme and  Serrano Peppers. Still to early for sprouting, I am watching them.

Camellia Sprouts!

I'm not exactly sure of the time these took to get to this point, somewhere between 2.5 and 3 months. I placed 6 camellia seeds in a zip lock bag with a damp paper towel, checked it once a week for 6 weeks, 1 or 2 two had slightly sprouted by 6 weeks. Then I forgot about them around Christmas until last night. Out of the 6 seeds I planted 5- 4 inch pots today, only 1 did not make it. At the time I was sprouting these I also planted some in the garden, I believe they might be sprouting too!

 Needless to say I'm pretty excited about these camellias. To be honest it might be 4-5 years before we ever see a bloom. I read that every camellia seed can grow into its own  flower depending on its parent plants..

The weather today was supposed to reach 60, our thermometer on the shed wall said 65 degrees. I took off my outer shirt about 10 am and wore a tee shirt until about 5 pm today. We planted the rest of our bulbs(daffodil, crocus and anemone)  in the garden(finally). I also cut a bunch of giant bamboo into 1 foot spikes and pounded them into the ground to make a garden border.

Later we went to walk the Poets Walk in Hillsborough. Funny we saw a barefoot walking guitar player and a guy with a black cat on his shoulder. Beautiful day!

The crocus I posted recently looked to become 2 blooms yesterday, this morning it was 3 blooms as in the photos and later a few inches away 2 more blooms opened, making 5 blooms. Daffodils, crocus, rock irises and snow drops are peeking out of the ground.

Friday in Chapel Hill I saw 2 mounds of thrift blooming and on Saturday we walked with Megs mom at her retirement house and found 4 camellia blooming.

Seeds and Weeds!

It has been quite the year here for the Eastern Redbud (Cercis canadensis) trees, they are laden with seeds unlike anything I has seen before. I grew up with Eastern Redbuds so this is a longtime. The trees over the garden and along our drives are dark brown with seeds. Wish I could sell them by the pound I could make some money.

I'm worried that one of these trees will drop seeds all over our garden, pulled up nearly 100 seedlings in the shade garden this spring. This tree is about 1/3 the size of the tree to the left both are over the edge of the garden. Anyone else experiencing a huge seed year for Eastern Redbud?


Now for the bad stuff Field Bindweed a morning glory invasive invaded our garden about 3 years ago, it came here in a load of top soil. I no longer buy top soil instead we get organic compost which heats up as it matures and the weeds die off, at least I hope.

 Today I dug up two 16 ft rows in the garden and hand picked this 4 gallon bucket of bind weed roots.

I found an interesting page on controlling Field Bindweed, you can till it up every two weeks for up to two years and 95% of it will die off, but your can't plant either.

 This photo was taken at eye level on one of Meg's Pea trellises.

Here are two tidbits on  Field Bindweed I got from the page linked above:

 Field bindweed can be spread by seed, root fragments, farm implements, infested soil adhering to the roots of nursery stock, root growth from infested areas, and by animals. Field bindweed has a deep root system that competes with crop plants for water and nutrients. Vines climb on plants and shade crops, cause lodging of small grains, and make harvesting difficult by clogging machinery. Dense field bindweed infestations may reduce crop yields by 50 to 60 percent. Land infested with field bindweed is reduced in value.

Field bindweed can develop extensive above and below ground growth soon after germination. A single plant six months after germination produced 197 vertical roots, each at least 4 feet long for a total of 788 feet, while growing in a large container. Plants had 34 horizontal underground roots coming from the tap root, which averaged 4 feet in length and gave the plant 136 additional feet of growth. These 34 roots produced 141 new shoots which established as individual plants. 

So for the record our weed problems in the garden here are pretty intense. We have field bindweed, Japanese bamboo grass, acorns(oaks), redbuds, mimosa, pokeweed and partridge pea just to name a few. 

Just so you know if the stalks of Swamp Sunflower touch the ground, they will take root! The Obedient plants are about a foot tall, those Swamp Sunflower stalks are 12 foot long.

 Here are some seeds to get excited about my first camellia seeds, I found two pods about the diameter of a dime on my Camellia sasanqua 'Tsumaorigasa'. Each pod had two seeds as shown above. Looked up how to plant and them and planted them the easy way by poked them in the ground and I placed a small stake to mark them. I read each seed will produce an hybrid camellia bush, it could be years before we see any blooms.

Our 12 year old toadlily is going strong. I liked this photo taken this morning and wanted to share it. Note: they do not show like this all day in the garden you have to get the light right.

 

We are down to 3 cyclamen flowers right now. I think at one point we had close to 15 blooming at one time. I found some cyclamen corms at Southern States the other day one of the corms had a small bloom poking out of the bag! 

Cyclamen if you turn it up to look at it from the bottom up! 

I also planted in the garden today. Planted garlic, red onions, white onions, rape, mustard and lettuce.

 

Seeds Pie Social in Durham

The Seeds Pie Social was a great time! It was a fund raiser for the Seeds program. For those of you who do not know about Seeds check the link in the line above. Here is a little about them from their website:
SEEDS is a non-profit community garden whose goal is to teach people to care for the earth, themselves and each other through a variety of garden-based programs. 

Anyway the suggested donation was $10 and you received 4 tickets for a slice of pie per ticket. The pies were donated by local restaurants and bakeries and oh so good! Also pies made from the garden like chard pie.

Just before this photo was taken there WAS 3 slices of pie on my plate. The Cherry Pie was awesome it was from Whole Foods, the other pie was really good, I forgot what it was. I went back and got a vegan peanut butter pie, it was surprisingly delicious.  Megan also got 4 slices of pie she ate one slice and guess what we had for dessert that night after dinner?

These were pies made by the Seeds volunteers, all made from the garden. One of those is that famous chard pie.

At the entrance to the garden was this Coral Honeysuckle. The wow factor of this wall of honeysuckle was incredible, imagine a wall of this 6-7 foot height and 8 foot long.

I would have shown the entire wall but it was sunny so I just took photos of the shaded portion.

Here is a Pawpaw, Asimina triloba flower from the Seeds Garden. These flowers have a hard time getting pollinated, Seeds also has their own bee hives. When I was a kid we'd know when it was time to pick the fruits and go into the woods to pick them. Now where we used to picked them it is a subdivision. I bet most kids today don't know what these are or when to pick and eat the fruit. The Seeds kids I'm sure they do.

I could not resist getting a shot of the underside of the pawpaw flower, oh so pretty!

Mission control I think we have fruit in the making! These are just starting, when full grown they will be about 2 inches around and 4 inches long. Tastes like a banana but different. Pawpaws are also the host plant for the Zebra Swallowtail butterfly.

Garden Planting update Feb 19

Folks,

This morning it was 26 degrees and it is expected to be the same tomorrow and Sunday I think. The seedlings in the garden are covered in straw and surviving thus far. The seven day forecast does not really show any growing days, but we are hopeful. Meg drew me a map of what is planted currently. This map is of the garden plot along our pond, the open areas are not planted yet. To give prospective on this plot, it is approximately 40 ft long x 10 ft wide.

The arugula, kale and meslin mix planted on 1/24 is up and looking good, see a photo on our first posting.

All of our seeds came from a seed company that grows all it's own seeds Territorial Seed, the onions we bought locally at the farm and garden supply in Durham. Can't wait for more 70 degree days.