Where are the nice tropical storms when you desperately need them?

Just found out that you shouldn't give your butter beans too much water. If you do
they put all their production into leaf making. With less water you get more beans.
That's nice to hear with all this drought in the southeast. Like many Floridians,
I am praying for a nice tropical storm with a great deal of rain, but little wind.
After all there was even fire in Lake Okeechobee. And where water is usually on the
slim side, like in East Texas, there is gobs and gobs of it.
In our neck of the woods, I hope there aren't boxwoods and camellias planted in
antebellum days biting the dust. Or for that matter - any. Last year there were
old oaks, pines, and hardwoods giving up the ghost. With Pines, the drought weakened
many, which the pine beetles were all to glad to pounce upon. If they don't stop
attacking my pines, I don't know what I will do for pine straw.
My crookneck squash aren't coming up. Hope I didn't plant too deep. Will have to
get busy and plant some more. In a vegetable garden, my dear little portager, there
is never any ending to the work. Such is life in the the home garden
.

Lake Okeechobee and Everglades in Dire Straights

South Floridians have more than their plants to worry about. If it doesn't rain soon,
will they have drinking water. Lake Okeechobee is at it lowest point in history.
The Everglades are drying up. Hopefully the rainy season will kick in soon.

Nandina "Yellow Berries" and Finch's Gold "Possumhaw"

Get yourself some Nandina " Yellow Berries". For something differest also by
Finch's Gold "Possumhaw, which also has yellow berries.

Brooklyn Botanical Gardens has a nice blog.

The Brooklyn Botanical Gardens has a great blog with nice photos of its many
gardens You can visit at www.bbg.org/. It is famous for its rose garden
and its Japanese Garden. I haven't been there, but I hope to visit it and the
New York Botanical Gardens in the Bronx some day. They seem to have a nice planting
of native plants, also.

Countryside Roses -a website for Antique Roses in Pass Christain, Mississippi

I just found a great online nursery source for
Antique Roses .
It is in Pass Christian, Mississippi. Pass Christain was one of the prettiest ocean communities
around before Katrina. So not only will you be buying some great plants if you shoul
shop here, you will be helping the Mississippi Gulf Coast. So order some roses
from www.countrysideroses.com and add long lasting
beauty to the home garden

.

May - a nice time to travel

It's May and to me it seems a great time to go on garden tours in
England, France, and Italy. I've never been to England, but in the 70's I was in the
Navy and went on 3 Mediterranean Cruises, and if I remember correctly May was
a nice time of year in France and Italy. Of course Global warming may have changed
things. I hear that Italy is having drought conditions like the southeast and west
coast are here. Spain is also very beautiful. Barcelona is great.

Water Shortage in Atlanta and other southern cities.

I went to a family reunion this weekend. Many people were discussing ways to get
around the water police, as so many cities in the southeast are telling people not
to water lawns and etc.
Glad I live in a place that does'nt tell people they can't use water to water plants
and yards.
Also found out that some distant cousins got married at Petals From the Past, a nursery, garden center with show gardens, in the gardens there in May. Petals From
the Past www.petalsfromthepast.com has been doing weddings for several years now. It is located about a mile
off of Interstate 65, near Jemison, Alabama. They also do wedding receptions.

Get Yourself some Achillea 'Moonshine'

Go to your local nursery or lowe's and ask for yarrow. That is, if it will grow where
you live. It gows all over the east except along the Gulf and Atlantic coast and in
Florida and Texas. Yarrow is the common name and 'Moonshine' is a great cultivar.
It's a lovely yellow in color. It doesn't like a lot of water, and is easy to grow.
It does need dividing every 3 years or so. In fact, the University of Maryland
claims it's one of the easiest perennials to grow. Just don't try to grow it in
wet soil.

Queen Anne's Lace and Black Eyed Susans

Both Queen Anne's Lace and Black Eyed Susans are so picturesque now along country roads.
A few years ago I transplanted some Queen Anne's Lace to the home garden , and boy has it
multiplied. But it's a beautiful member of the carrot family, nontheless.
They both look great in borders of cottage garderners'.

New Pearl Tomato

You must try the New Pearl Cherry Tomato. It has the great flavor of older varieties of tomatoes.

Plants are dying without water

Is your garden under six feet of water, being destroyed by fire, and or your plants just need
water desperately. Last year I spent some many hours behind a hose, will I have to do the
same this year? It seems like I May, unless things change. Also without the rain, our temperatures are higher. Since most plants native to the east need ample rainfall, will species
be able to adapt or will they go extinct in some areas? Many of our plants struggle to stay alive
when the temperature hovers around 100 degrees. Like last year, in my traveling in the
countryside, I notice plants that are dying or just died.

A new internet site on Life

Have you heard about the new internet site that will take aproximately 10 years to complete on
life on earth, all 1.8million species. You will be able to access as someone of little knowledge to
expert knowledge with all the scientific data.

Go green, get the new kind of light bulbs that Walmart is pushing. They are suppose to last
much longer than regular light bulbs and also save you 25% on electricity.

Tornado Alley

Storm Chasers are out in Tornado Alley in full force. The other night , I was watching the T.V.
and they stated that it had been 73 tornadoes that evening with mor on the way. I really
want rain bad, but not like they are getting it in Oklahoma and Kansas. My mother was in
a Tornado on Easter Sunday 1932. It has often been a topic of conversation.

The Queen Visits the Southland

Queen Elizabeth will attend the Kentucky Derby tomorrow at Churchill Downs. Hope she gets
to see Teufelsberg, the horse bought for a few thousand and has a lady trainer cross the finish
line first ahead of all those multi-million dollar thoroughbreds.

Is anyone going to the home garden , Biltmore, for its spring festivities? I went there in
September 1975, and it was quite a memorable experience. But now, they have opened up
more of the house and have a winery.

The Nursery As Art Form

I wonder who started the Nursery as art form? When I studied Ornamental Horticulture in
the late 60's and early 70's and began woking in a nursery in South Florida, nurseries were
drab places. I never once saw one with display gardens. In fact, I never saw a nursery with
display gardens untill January 2004, when I first saw Petals from the Past in Jemison, Alabama.
The owners of Petals studied under the famous rosarian, Bill Welch in Texas, and both man
and wife were familiar with the Antique Rose Emporium.
I had seen pictures of the display gardens of the Antique Rose Emporium in Texas and
Suburban Atlanta in books, and also in their catalogue. Also I had seen pictures of Nancy
Godwin's nursery in North Carolina, Plants Delight Nursery and Woodlanders in South
Carolina. Hopefully once day I will visit more of the nurseries having display gardens.
It makes for such a pleasant experience, especially when they have lovely Contemporary Garden Decor
for Contemporary Garden Decor
displayed among their Contemporary Garden Design
and styled garden.

I'm quite curious of who started this trend and when? Anyone out there who knows
the answer, please respond.