Ode to a Husband of a Gardener

I love this photo of my husband Lee in front of our house. Sun setting, sprinkler spraying in from the side, nothing better. He helps me so much in the yard and garden. And it's none of the fun stuff. Pull old shrubs. Clear 8' tall weeds. Craft new pretty mailbox. Mow, mow, and MOW millions upon millions of live oak leaves that fall each spring.

Whenever I have a new "vision" for improving the yard, he listens. Recently he spent over three hours pulling down 40-year-old thorny smilax and trumpet vines from a small group of tall oaks. It opened up the decades-dark side yard so much that the sun actually began to shine through!

How to thank such a wonderful husband? Maybe if I learned how to adjust a chain saw link, or change the mower blade, or fix the weed whacker. In all reality that's probably not going to happen, so I hope a smile and a kiss on the cheek will do.

Pondering Cacti: A Personal Mini Desert

I'm not too familiar with the thirstless cactus since I'm more of a shade gardener, but I loved this zen-inspired, potted prickly bunch that I saw at Hyam's Garden Center recently. Here are a few that I'm thinking about putting together in my own mini desert:
Jade Plant
Kalanchoe
Aloe
Sphaeroids/Mimicry (those neat little compact succulents that look like green rocks)
Aeoniums
Strings of Hearts
Haworthia
Echeveria
Sedum
Plover Eggs
Fairy Moss

Here is a really fun site about nothing but cacti. Grouping ideas, inspiration, identification library, and even desktop downloads: www.cactuscollection.com

My Winter-forlorn Clematis Has Reluctantly Returned....

We've only lived in our 43-year-old house for 5 1/2 years. This clematis that returns every spring in my "Chimney Herb Garden" is one of the only things I kept from the previous owner. Normally it's covered in giant five-inch wide blooms. This year, and after the February 12 snow, along with many below-freezing nights in January it was reluctant to come back. Faithfully it has, but note how some of the poor little blooms near the bottom half only have four petals, and look so sad. I gave it a boost of mushroom compost a few weeks back. So along with the heat, sun, and maybe some much needed nutrition, the blooms began to get larger and larger, as they are at the top of the vine.

Keeping it company below are: A misplaced day lily, Rosemary, mint, thyme, tarragon, sage, dill, and one lone tomato plant.

Check out all things clematis here: www.clematis.org

Sarah Bernhardt Peony: Will This Beauty Love its New Home in my Charleston Garden?

PEONIES. Lots of gorgeous peonies. Not what you would expect to see in a Southern garden. I said I would never try to grow one because it's just too difficult in a place like Charleston. Never say never. I found this herbaceous Sarah Bernhardt beauty at Lowe's for about $12. It calls for morning sun only, which I can handle. It thrives in zones 3-8. I think I can handle that too, except that my zone 8 is a micro-climate zone 8b....more subtropical, more heat, more humidity. All things that I guess a peony really doesn't like.

I've always told myself that there's a reason Southern gardeners are lucky to have camellias....because we can't really grow the coveted north-loving peony.

It has one beautiful nursery-forced fragrant bloom on it. I can't stop staring at it. I will savor this moment as I know it might be the only bloom I ever see on it. For now, and maybe for just a little while, I will pretend that I am a Northern gardener welcoming my peony into spring.

Hands holding peonies above are from Martha Stewart's page on Sarah Bernhard peonies. Check it out for all of the specifics: http://www.marthastewart.com/plant/paeonia-sarah-bernhardt

(Top photo is my new Sarah Bernhardt peony with its lone bloom. Keeping it company are variegated dianella, ligularia, and purple heart.)