Sovereignty Farms

Pictures of Hope

Here are sme pictures I mention in the last post.  A few sad ones, but mostly pictuers of hope - some flowers that are shining through already.  I think the saddest thing, still, is the poor leaves of even the blooming plants.

http://thefarm.typepad.com/photos/hope/

Blooming after the storm

Walking around yesterday, I saw some flowers blooming which made me feel hopeful.  One of the lilies I planted late the winter is blooming in red.  It is bent over and dirty, but it still opened.  Some of the older rain lilies bloomed beautifully.  The green and gold is perking up and I saw some gold. The stella d'oras are opening. This is really the first year they have opened so I don't know if they are early bloomers or if the others are not going to come.  Based on my drive to work, I think they must be early bloomers. 1 lonely little Shasta daisy is blooming; it nearly broke my heart.  So pretty. And the azaleas that never bloom??? well they are offering some up now in pink and white.

On the down side, the tardiva I moved is not at all happy, nor the camellia I put in it's place.  I don't think they will make it. The small (newest) fairy is looking pretty dead, but fortuately Linda saved the big one. I of the newest, early blooming azaleas is gone - no trace of it - i think the root stock is all gone too.  The Japanese Maple was looking good, I thought.  But I noticed yesterday that most of the leaves are brown and dropping off.  I am hoping that is just shock, and not death. The red bud looks unhappy as well - it took a beating and also is now getting more sun than it is used to.

To end on a higher note, there are some hydrangeas that actually have blooms on them.  Small, and few, but blooms none the less.  I am going to take some pictures for posting later today.

Baby Steps

First day really focusing on the flowers.  I marked some "sticks" to make sure no one would step on them.  Then, starting in the left front bed, I worked around to the other side.  But, being prego makes this a tiring task.  I moved Hydrangeas #3-8 (#1 and 2 are ok where they are).  Moved 2 hosta to the backyard bed.  Moved the paniculata from the back to the sun bed, and replaced it with a camellia from the front bed.  Moved 2 peonies from the front right bed to the sun area.  Deadheaded the red Knock Out roses and the New Dawn on the gazebo. I think I will leave the gardenia where they are.  But, I made my way up to the first gardenia.  At this rate, I should be through the whole garden in like 10 years.

Garden Disaster

Funny how life changes so quickly.  Just last week I was so excited to see my hydrangeas blooming.  I catalog each one to measure its health and bloom time.  And now they are sticks - where there are any at all.  Maybe they will come back - maybe the traffic and debris and stuff ends up being too much for them.  And if they do come back - they can't live where they were. There are no trees - it is barren.  Too much hot GA sun burning down on them. Where can I move them?

And what do I do with what garden is left.  I have never had sun.  I can't even fathom a sun garden in my imagination -- I have always wanted a shade garden and always gardened with shade.  My camellias and hostas will not have a home.  My foxglove and azaleas will be orphans. How can anyone relax in and enjoy a garden in the sun?

Storm Pix

These are pictures from the tornado that hit the property.  There are duplicates, and some do not have good lighting.  We were just trying to gwt everything for the insurance.

http://thefarm.typepad.com/photos/storm/

Yard Work

Yesterday I bought some plants at home depot.  3 Foxglove - each pot has 3-4 blooms in it. And 3 small creeping fig.  I want those to go into a new bed in the back - I don't know the timeline on that so they may need an interim home.  I also bought a new yellow rose.  I saw some at the garden tour homes and fell in love.  The one I bought is a floribunda - Julia Childs.  Specs: Butter gold color, very round and bushy, medium old fashioned bloom, licorice and spice scent, 2006 AARS winner. About 3 feet tall.

Mine has blooms but none have opened - this pic is from White Flower Farm.

I made some cuttings today that I have never done before.  About 3 each of Fairy Rose, David Austin Rose, Bridal Wreath Spirea, Gardenia, White Jasmine, ans Pieris.  Who knows - nothing may happen.  But you never know.

The 2 Rhodea Lilies I bought about 4 years ago were looking pretty sad.  Maybe too much sun. So, I decided to move them.  In the process I divided them.  2 lilies turned into 20 plants - wow.  That is some return. I put all of them in the dark bed on the left along the front fence.  The soil was better than I imagined.  Still red like the clay, but earthworms. That is good. The Hydrangea flowers are progressing nicely.  I also pulled some weeds and cleaned up my Hayes - I noticed that lots of Hellebores have seeded and come up.  The first true set of leaves are there. I wonder when is best to move them.

More blooming flowers

Of course, the new iris doesn't look anything like what I bought on eBay so who knows what it is, but it sure is pretty.

The yellow mini rose is blooming.  I think it looks super great next to this conifer that has yellow hues.

And the knockout roses are in full bloom.

   

Garden Tour Season

This weekend I was able to do 2 garden tours.  8 gardens via the Botanical Gardens and 5 via the Cobb County Master Gardeners.

I took SOOO many pictures and I want to share them on here.  But, first things first.  This year was the first time going to Ryan Gainey's garden (I think it has been offered many times).  Have I been missing out!!! His is one of those gardens that can change your life. I was so inspired. So encouraged.  Granted, his garden is maybe 30+ years old...but I can see how I can do some things today that will help me get there eventually. 

Here is a link to the pictures from his place.  I will try and post the other gardens over the next few days.

http://thefarm.typepad.com/photos/2008_garden_tours/index.html

Patience

Last night we had an incredible rain.  All night.  So, the plants I moved look great this morning.  I am glad I moved them.  However, as I looked at the other plants in the area that is "too shady", I was super suprised to see lots of blooms.  Not on all of them, mind you.  The smaller (re: younger) ones did not have any.  And there are 2 others that are probably in bad spots.  But, maybe I am just not being patient enough.  Some of those guys have been transplanted by me 4 or 5 times.  No wonder they have not bloomed.  The soil is still very poor in that area.  But I am thinking another root disturbance is not the right way to go.  I think I will add the compost to the top of the soil (under the mulch) for most of them.  And I need to make a pathway through that bed since the plants are all different heights.  But maybe it will work out - especially if I can get those limbs cut off.

Roses and Hydrangeas

This afternoon is very overcast.  It is sprinkling on and off.  Because of that, the pictures are either too dark or too bright (because of the flash), but I will show them off anyway.

Roses

Three knockout roses in the front, planted last year.  They are small still, but flowering well.

1 Fairy Rose.  The only one.  What makes this one special is that it is on the transplanted plant, not the new one.  So I think it will make it.  Woo Hoo.

This is a rose that Bill and Susan gave me when they moved.  The bloom is just so HUGE.  I like the splattered pink.

So pretty with the rain drops. This is Hot Cocoa.

New Dawn.  Not sure, but I think this may be the first year it has bloomed.

I love this birdhouse with the rose and iris.

New Bloomers

This is so exciting.  It is the first time this iris has bloomed. Ginnie gave it to me a few years ago.

Hydrangea

I studied Hydranga 1 and 2 today.  1 - H. serrata 'Kiyosumi'  2 - H. involucrata 'Tama Azisai'  They were both in pretty much the deepest shade I have - see 2 pictures below - in order.

Kiyosumi has had 1 bloom before but has almost no leaves.  Tama Azisai has some leaves but has never bloomed.  Although now kiyosumi has about 4 blooms starting and Tami Azisai has about 2. So anyway, the research indicates that both of these plants, especially Kiyosumi, prefer full sun. Maybe it will turn out that is not the case in the South, but certainly only 1 hour of sun is causing the problem. So, I did 2 things.  I moved them (Kiyosumi to the right bed by the Tea Olive and Tama Azisai in the left bed by the Emile Moulliere).  I also added shovel fulls of mushroom compost. I hope this helps. We will see.  Pictures of the new place is below - in order.

Hard to see here but it is to the left of the Tea Olive, in the front corner.

Hard to see here too, but it is in the middle of the screen - just to the right of the daylily in the foreground. I hope this still blooms because the blooms coming up did not look like the ones on the internet.  Maybe they will as they mature - or maybe I tagged this wrong. :(