Spring garden

The little pink azaleas, the little white azaleas and the white lorapetalum (species) are blooming along the driveway, and make me smile. These are the only azaleas the deer haven't nibbled, it's a gift! Many of the camelias have not been nibbled, and so far the hydrangeas seem to be OK. After 8 years, I'm finally getting in touch with reality on the deer issue! No more Gold Dust Acubua, no more azaleas. The ajuga has found several happy locations, so I will let it live where it wants to, rather than where I want it to live. I've discovered Kathy Fitzgerald's blog, Gardening with KF. She lives in Oak Island, writes for several garden magazines, including Carolina Gardener. There is a an article in the current issue about fertilizers that might be an eye-opener for those who use synthetic fertilizer. Including me! The current post on her blog suggests that NOW is the time to clean up the debris under the gardenias, to help prevent a whitefly problem later this summer. Last year, for the first time ever, I had white flies on my biggest gardenias. I vacuumed the bushes, to suck up the little flying devils. This week, I'll clean up underneath, burning the debris which is housing eggs for this year's population. The blueberries are blooming, the late daffodils are blooming, the Sombrueil rose has it's first bloom, too.






Just to the south of the the pretty pink and white azaleas and the white lorapetalum is a little bed of helleborus, which I love. The good news is that neither the deer, the rabbits nor the voles love them! And, they bloom in the dead of winter, lasting until late April. There is one more giant pot of white helleborus, a sweet gift from Martha, to go in the ground. Yet another gift: in the Monday spring clean-up, I found more than 100 little volunteer seedlings hiding under the leaves! What joy! I carefully lifted about 50 little gems from the edge of the lawn, from under the leaves and parent helleborus, and put them in a tray to grow with a little care. Fed them, too. I'll tranpslant them into a new display when they gain a little size. Considering that a pot of these precious plants will cost me about $13, I just made a LOT of money. Virtually. The squash are getting one more chance this year. I bought a pricey floating row cover, which I'll employ in an effort to stop the squash vine borers. If it works, this will be the first summer in more than 10 years I will harvest a squash. This year, Tromboncino squash. From Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (where I buy most of my seeds). The Yamato cucumbers are up, and transferred to larger pots. Other seeds sown: loofah, bronze fennel, castor beans, coleus, parsley, moonflower vine, Giant Okra, basil. Tomatoes: Cherokee Purple, Principe Borghese, Hungarian Italian Paste, Brandywine, Green Grape, Stone. Peppers: Carolina Wonder, Aji Dulce, Doe Hill Golden Bell, Little Colorful Ornamentals, Sweet Banana, and a tiny hot pepper from a man in Oaxaca. Most of these seedlings are up, but some are not showing signs of life, such as the okra and the parsley. Old seeds, I think.