Dear Nan: In Answer To Your Question

About Hedge (he really does have an enormous personality)...and an apology for not writing a followup post. YET!

I have two really excellent excuses: Priscilla Peahen and the unusual winter weather. Both have eaten up my energy and attention!

If you followed Priscilla F (people have put forth various thoughts on what the F stands for) Peahen's story; you know that she has finally been relocated to a safe place in the country. But, not without a great deal of angst while searching for just the right home. You know, I really miss that big bird, but don't miss her knocking on the front door at 6:30 AM every day.

It's strangely odd Not to be followed by a large bird when I go into the garden

As for the weather! After 30+ years in the Middle South I am a complete winter wimp. The temperatures stayed in the teens for almost two weeks. We were all in shock, especially when it snowed. It was absolutely beautiful out, but colder then we've experienced in a very long time. I couldn't make myself spend time outside if my life depended upon it! I bundled up and went for walks, but, it was a bummer to spend time looking at all that brown and gray in the garden. Even the lawnette had turn brown. Just the week before it had been a green oasis among the leaves and brown foliage. How you northern gardeners deal with winter, day after day, I may never understand...but, I have tremendous respect for each and every one of you.

So, I hardly ventured out, didn't do any garden work and occasionally danced around the issue of Hedge... What could replace him? Did we want hardscape or an evergreen hedge, a mixed perennial border or something entirely unique and different? Did we even want to spend resources on replacing an already working solution to privacy and noise abatement?

Soon he will be in his glory,
shortly after he will morph into the big green
blob that ate the front yard.
spring 2008

I spoke with my friend Sarah this morning. She's a garden designer who has helped me in the past. She understands the issues and has agreed to come up with some ideas. I am inclined to go off on a tear of whimsical ideas that are very exciting to think about~~

From Garden Porn Blog December 2007

Corten steel, galvanized drain pipes as columns, something unique and different! Well, you get the picture! She approaches designing a garden/landscape from the prospective of "there are no precedents in the neighborhood for that type of fence, Gail!" I want to be the precedent setting neighbor. No one knows what I do in the garden anyway with Hedge looming larger then life! Why not have a larger then life precedent!

In answer to your question~Have I made any progress on finalizing Hedge's replacement?

A little!

Warmest regards,
Gail

ps ~ thank you for asking.

*Nan Ondra and the Garden Bloggers Design Workshops

Wildflower Wednesday~Back To The Beginning

Aquilegia canadensis Spring 2009

Two dozen years ago we moved to what has since been christened~ Clay and Limestone Garden. Long time readers know that the relationship between garden and gardener has been a passionate affair...filled with moments of deep love and equally deep despair.

Trillium cuneatum Spring 2009

It took a long time for me to accept the limitations and gifts of the shallow, clay soil that is as dry as concrete most summers and wet and sticky all winter. (here for more of the story)

Dicentra cucullaria Spring 2009

Even in the face of over whelming evidence that wildflowers naturally occurred and thrived here, I tried to create an English cottage garden, a Mediterranean garden and a New England woodland. They were failures and sorely tried my patience!

Phlox paniculata sps Summer 2009

In my haste to create these idealized dream gardens ...I had over looked the abundant native x-asters, columbines, trout lilies, trilliums, mayapples, downy woodmint, penstemons, dicentras and a host of other beauties that grew here~~ naturally. It was a wonderful day when I stumbled upon Thomas Hemmerly's Wildflowers Of The Central South. I've never had the honor of meeting Dr Hemmerly, but, he became my garden mentor for understanding and appreciating the special native plants that grow in Middle Tennessee. He introduced me to our soil, micro-climate adaptations, Ordovician limestone and the stark beauty of a cedar glade.

Thalictrum thalictroides (Anemonella thalictroides) Spring 2009

He helped me put all the pieces together; to understand that my little bit of the garden wasn't ever going to be a garden that could rely completely upon introduced species, whether native to the US or from across the ponds. Once my eyes were opened, it was easy to see that the garden supported abundant wildlife
indigenous wildflowers, naturalized flowers like Queen Anne's Lace and carefully chosen exotics/introduced species.

X-Aster love Fall 2009

In those early day of gardening and wishing and hoping for a beautiful magazine garden, I fell for daylilies. Those first loves always have a special place in our hearts and daylilies still do. But, my head and heart were quickly filled with all things wildflower. I devoured articles about native plants, visited cedar glades, read botany articles and every book I could lay my hands on that discussed gardening in the Central Basin. Before long, it became clear to me and my gardening pals, that wildflowers had become my garden soul mates~


Wildflower Wednesday started out as a regular post to celebrate the wildflowers in my garden. It's been a fun way to introduce you to my soul mates! I treasure them and love sharing them. They grow with ease if planted in the right spot and they draw native fauna, like bees, birds and butterflies to the garden. There are articles all over the Internet extolling their virtues. You've read many, I'm sure! Here's how I sum it up~Native wildflowers are good for the earth and good for its inhabitants.

Phlox pilosa~Practically Perfect Pink Phlox Spring 2009

Wildflower Wednesday is about sharing wildflowers/natives/naturally occurring plants no matter where you garden~the UK, tropical Florida, Europe, Australia, Africa, South America, India or the coldest reaches of Canada. It doesn't matter if we sometimes show the same plants. How they grow and thrive in your garden is what matters most.

I hope you join the celebration..It's always the fourth Wednesday of the month!

Gail

Everett Butts, a native plant old timer living in the foothills of the Sierra, east of Sacramento, puts it this way: "What nature is doing on its own I'm doing with it. I tell people I have an affair with the land going here. It's damned important to me. It's part of my substance, my living and breathing. What I feel here is the earth and what flies and walks over it and burrows under it. The more I see and feel and understand, the more I like it."

Creative Juices Are Refreshing

January 29, 2009 Narcissus 'Jetfire'

My first year of blogging I found inspiration everywhere and all the time! While listening to a political discussion in late 2008 it suddenly hit me that titling a post about removing invasive Lonicera ....The Last days Of Bush ....Honeysuckle....was perfect. It was just enough of an attention grabber and not the least bit controversial! Titles like My Sweet Embraceable You and Pardon My Big Aster were just plain fun to write. Both were inspired by just being in the garden. During those early blogging months it seemed I never went anywhere with out something stimulating those creative juices. When they flow, you can't get to a pen and paper fast enough.

A clever idea from a friend's front garden
It makes a statement!
That's Mr I's Mini, btw.

So Saturday morning I headed out to get a bit of inspiration and possibly a plant or two. The three nurseries I stopped at had absolutely nothing that was interesting! The usual pansies were available~~looking terribly beaten up after two months of frigid weather. There were plenty of yews, Chinese hollies and other evergreens~ but I was hunting color inspiration. " Come back, our new shipment of plants isn't expected for a week to 10 days!" was the refrain. Ten days! That' s forever in gardener years.

While stalking the nurseries in January 2009, I found a perfect double yellow hellebore. Golden Lotus is her name.Golden Lotus is part of the Winter Jewel series from breeder Marietta O'Byrnes. This little beauty stands upright and doesn't require you to lie on the ground to get a good look or take a photo. Isn't she lovely? The entire series is stunning. Some of the best colors I've seen in a hellebore~~apricots, picotees, berries and deep blacks. I was sure hoping the nursery would have them in....talk about a shot of color. They can be a bit pricey so I only treated myself to one last year! What was I thinking...we all know it's better to buy in sets of three, five or seven;)...and with the garden in shades of brown and gray all those delicious colors seem very attractive. So if you want to be inspired~ you can visit the nursery to drool over the photos. Just be prepared to find space in your garden and budget for them.

Very nice, but not a stunning hellebore
Sunday, February 21, 2010
C&L

While plants weren't available to tempt me, I did stumble upon a mosaic that caught my fancy while visiting a stone yard. ~~This sun is on the stone gable of the office building. Don't you think it would look delightful on a patio or the right garden wall. I like the notion of creating a half sun at the end of a sidewalk~a stepping off point into the lawn or a garden room?
It reminded of this lovely, old sun carving at the Blithewold Mansion. The rough stone sun is part of the foundation of the mansion. Which is incorporated into the beautiful formal North Garden. Layanee took me to meet Kris/Trench Manicure and see the garden when I was in Providence the fall of 2008. It was beautiful....even after a week of heavy rains. Here's another impressive use of stone~
Again from Blithewold.

But, I digress! On Sunday I had lunch at J Alexander's Restaurant and look what I took home~This is a Polly Cook print from the back of the menu! She's a local artist whose work I have long admired. She works in ceramics and oils. Okay you're wondering, what's so special about this print on the back of a menu? Here's what this non-artist sees! Inspiration! A great mosaic opportunity. The shape of the vase is perfect and those red tulips are exquisite! They already look like pieces of stained glass that have been grouted....and look at those pops of purple for contrast. This would make a wonderful glass on glass still life~I might just have to try it.

The ideas are flowing and the juices are refreshing!

So tell me~What's inspiring you these days?

Gail

Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint you can on it.
- Danny Kaye

February 21, 2010 C&L's first crocus of the season

How Do You Solve A Problem Like Priscilla?

Sung by Tasty and Delicious, the Greek Chorus at Primms Springs Farm

How do you solve a problem like Priscilla?
How do you catch a bird and pin it down?

How do you find a word that means Priscilla?
A flibbertijibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A clown!

Many a thing you know you'd like to teach her
Many a thing she ought to understand
But how do you make her stay
And listen to all you say
How do you keep a bird upon the land

Oh, how do you solve a problem likePriscilla?
How do you hold a big bird in your hand?

How do you solve a problem like Priscilla?
How do you catch a bird and pin it down?
How do you find a word that means Priscilla?
A flibbertijibbet! A will-o'-the wisp! A clown!



Many a thing you know you'd like to teach her
Many a thing she ought to understand
But how do you make her stay
And listen to all you say
How do you keep a bird upon the land

Oh, how do you solve a problem like Priscilla?
How do you hold a big bird in your hand?

How does one deal with a problem like Priscilla? Well, you spend 3 months caring for her and making sure the harsh winter doesn't turn her into a Peahen Popsicle treat for the coyotes. You worry when she is gone for longer then a day; fretting when the temps are below 20 degrees; feeling relieved when she shows up on the front door. Calming down your usually sweet tempered spouse when she roosts on the cars. Promising your usually sweet tempered spouse that you will pay for any damage to his Mini-Cooper convertible top! In the meantime, you let the world know that you need a home for this big, beautiful bird. State and local wild life agencies ignore your emails and phone calls. But, your friends on the neighborhood listserv never let you down! They spread the word...Before you know it a wonderful big hearted woman says, "I will take her!" Then the unthinkable happens! It rains, turns to sleet and the temperatures drop to sub freezing...The next morning Priscilla arrives at the front door bleeding...she has frozen to the tree limb and cut herself as she tried to fly down. You fret and worry. Then a call comes from a saint. Her name is Sharon, she lives on a farm, she loves peafowl, they have a pen, there are peacocks, they have everything Priscilla could ever want. They are excited, thrilled to add her to their family. This is right, this is the place. The big-hearted woman agrees that this is right. Our big beautiful bird will have a home, be loved, be with other peafowl, be safe and maybe have chicks. This is the right course of action. So we set about to catch her. My dear, sweet wonderful husband of thirty incredible years figures out the hows and catches her on the first attempt.

So, how does one solve a problem like Priscilla?
We take her to the country....

Last week we began feeding Priscilla in a cage.
Wednesday evening Mr I had tied a string to the cage door and sprung the trap!
We covered the cage with a nice warm blanket and she slept in my Subaru!
The next day we drove to the country.
The only problem was the peahen poop odor.
Birds eat and eat and poop and poop.

We arrive at the farm and see Priscilla's new digs.
The pen is a two room affair with netting on the roof
to keep them safe inside and predators out.
The roosts have heat tape to protect their tootsies.
They are free to walk about the 200 acre farm when not penned.
There are half a dozen Indian Blue Peafowl.
Priscilla F Peahen is an Indian Blue Peahen.

She is released into an empty pen so everyone can adjust to her.
Clever girl~she spies the other peafowl.

"You ARE leaving me here?" she seems to be asking me!
Or, maybe it's a big thank you!

Hello there, Handsome!
Mr Peacock is interested!
Of course he is~She's a beauty!

She is chortling.
I can't describe it, but I think it's a joyful hello sound!

Please if you enlarge any, this is the one!
My bird is happy!
So am I!

You already figured out
that this big beautiful bird has wormed her way into my affection.
I will miss her, but I am thrilled she has a home and a real peahen life.
The 'burbs ain't no place for her!

UPDATE: Sharon called and Priscilla is doing well. She and the 'Captain' (Mr Peacock' as named by Annie/Transplantable Rose) are now in the same cage. It may take longer for the other peahens to welcome her!

Gail

so many ways within the waterfall for water to fall.

Dear Dave,

You've asked your gardenblogging friends "How do you add magic to the garden?" I've given this a great deal of thought and wanted to be able to respond with more then the glib comment I originally gave you. It's true, we know immediately when we are in a magical space. Perhaps it's the lighting as it falls through the leaves of a tree or the paths that lead us around corners, but for me...it's more about our ability to suspend the concrete mind and go into our imaginations.


As a young child, with three sisters living in a small house ...space was at a premium. I found refuge and quiet amidst the noise and bustle under the coffee table! I would crawl under there with my pillow and from that little clubhouse for one would be magically transported to Captain Kangaroo's with Bunny Rabbit and Grandfather Clock! Later, I would discover books and the magic carpet ride to even more adventures.

But, the most powerful of all magical places for me as a child were outdoor spaces.

A backyard, a bower of trees or a woodland garden. One of my earliest memories is of the sights, sounds and sensations of making mud pies in my grandmother's front yard... Side by side, my big sister and I dug the dirt, added the water and shaped our mud pies. Pat, pat, pat went our little hands...dirt and muddy water splashing us both. It's a sweet and joyful memory for me.



When we are outdoors all the senses are engaged...We see the changing colors. We feel the air as it blows across our face. We feel the sun warming our skin. We feel the grass beneath our feet and the soft velvet texture of flower petals. We can hear the birds singing. We can smell the fresh soil and the scent of flowers. We experience the world.

I am so very glad you want your daughters to be able to find magic. You are a wise father. We live in a world were urban and suburban children are deprived of mud pie making memories. Where terms like Nature Deficit Disorder are entering the conversation. Where children have schedules as busy as their parents'. We want our children to be educated, to get in the right schools, to be capable decision makers and to be successful. But, right now, in those precious few years of early childhood, their imaginations are taking shape...They can delight in the feel of mud on their hands, they can imagine dogs and puppies in clouds and they can see fairies dancing amidst the flowers.

So Dave, continue what you're doing, read to them, write poems with them, take them for adventures, introduce them to the forests and woods, let them lay in the grass and watch the clouds, give them spaces to explore and hide, let them make mud pies and get dirty...because it is those experiences that will allow them to find the magic in the everyday and in any garden they visit.

Gail

for more on magic from Dave/Home Garden go here

quote from john thompson

Abracadabra~Watch me Pull A Rabbit Out Of My Hat For GBBD!

After consulting the wisest of wise...
It's been concluded that there will be little if any
Witch hazel 'Bernice' this past weekend

bloom like we had last year.
Those days were balmy and

the hellebores, daffodils, crocus, pansies and
of course the glorious 'Bernice' Hamamelis vernalis and 'Diane' H intermedia
declared in last year's post
"I'm Ready For My Close-Up".
Indeed they were beautiful.

We've had unusually harsh weather and
only the witch hazels have been brave enough

to unfurl their crepe paper petals
and that is only when the

day warms up.

Yowie Zowie!

Look what I found!
Hellebore buds!
They were hiding under the leaves!
I was looking for the crocus I planted last fall
and pushed aside the leaves to see
how the hellebore were fairing.

I am so gosh darned excited!

They are dressed and
ready to take a bow.

Though winter's hold is still tight and snow is expected for the next few days;
residents of this garden have a lot to celebrate...

There is beauty all around.

You have to look closely or

you might overlook a gem hidden here and there.
Behind the brilliant cardinal is
'White By The Gate' Camelia japonica
If you look closely (try squinting your eyes)
there are a few buds that aren't completely brown!
Yippee! We might have flowers after all.

On top of discovering some bloom in the garden~
There's been a revitalizing vacation to Spa Archives.

Where my love affair with the garden has been re-kindled.
Long time visitors know that
there was never any danger of a breakup,
but, my attention had been straying.

Who can fault a gardener for
California Dreamin on such a winter's day

So, please spring~~ don't keep us waiting much longer!

Whether you are lost in day dreams of warm and sunny days or firmly rooted in your own garden; it's February 15 and that means Bloom Day! An event that knows no geographical boundaries and is celebrated hither and yon in this great big wonderful world we inhabit. Please visit Carol, May Dreams Gardens for a link to all gardenbloggers who are celebrating the day!

Have fun out there, keep warm and be safe.

Gail

Oz image credit