Archive for the ‘the garden’ Category

My Favorite Spring Plants

Hyacinth My absolute favorite. Beautiful little blossoms and smells heavenly.

Tulips So regal and proud.

Creeping Phlox A great groundcover and such dainty little flowers.

Sweet Alyssum A great spreading perennial with beautiful white blossoms.

Lilac I don’t see them much down here but up north, they are everywhere and have the most beautiful scent.

Forsythia So beautiful when it’s blooming and especially when planted in a mass.

Tulip Tree I know this is technically a magnolia but I’ve always called it a tulip tree. They are blooming now here in South Carolina and are just gorgeous!

Daffodil I especially love the bright yellow ones with the dark orange center. They are just so cheerful.

Bradford Pear Tree They are so beautiful when in bloom.

This is one of my favorite times of the year. Spring is coming which means it’s almost time to start putting around in my gardens. I love to spend time outside in my yard. If only I could talk my husband into getting rid of that ugly field of concrete surrounding our pool… just think of all the things I could plant!

I have two arbors covered in Lady Banks Rose. If you’re not familiar with this rose, you need to be! We are expanding our deck and unfortunately one of my Ladies is in the way. I think I’m driving my contractor crazy trying to design a deck around my rose. But I will not be deterred!!! I’m keeping this lovely Lady and if I have an odd deck design because of it, so be it.

Lady Banks has been grown since the early-1800’s and is a wonderful climber, especially in areas where it may be near people since it is thornless. No thorns… no ouchies. It grows perfectly in our zone here in Upstate South Carolina (zone 7) and is almost impossible to kill. I don’t really do much to it as far as feeding and watering. It just keeps growing and growing. I’ve have seen it called a “Tombstone” rose because nothing kills it. And that means us! Unfortunately it has a short bloom cycle (about 3 weeks) and very little fragrance but her positives far outweigh any negatives. Around the 3rd week of March, the branches will be completely covered in small yellow blossoms and it is truly a spectacular show. They are always the first “real” plants (not counting bulbs) that bloom in my garden and when I see those beautiful roses, I always think “Now it’s Spring.”

Lady Banks Rose is a very fast grower. Very fast. It can cover an arbor in just a year or two. Make sure you grow it on a sturdy structure and not near the house! I’ve heard stories of our dear Lady Banks infiltrating eaves and windows. It does need pruning to keep it in shape and that is best done after it blooms since it blossoms on old wood. That means it sets it blooms for the following year on the wood of previous growing seasons. Once it sets its blooms, pruning it will obviously prune off all the flowers for the following year. Lady Banks will keep its green leaves throughout the season, providing great shade.

Right now my Ladies are covered in the remnants of our snowstorm but I can still see the green leaves under the ice. They will be fine though. Lady Banks is a strong Southern Lady and isn’t going to let a little late season blast of Winter stop her! In a few weeks I’ll be enjoying her beautiful show of flowers.

What I wouldn’t give for a greenhouse…. We’ll talk about that another day.

3/9/09 UPDATE Just a quick update…. my rose is still there and I just walked through the deck design with the contractor including my idea for a new arbor. There were only two raised eyebrows and no one seemed to think I was crazy so it’s all good. I did have to trim her back a little so that they can work around her. Will post pictures when the project is finished.