Banksia Allyn Gold

WE’D like to draw your attention to a couple of delightful small native plants that we feel would provide a lot of pleasure for anyone with a garden, whatever the size.

The first is the delightful hardenbergia Mini Haha, a lovely form of the well-known H. violacea that produces an abundance of its eye-catching clusters of bright purple pea-shaped flowers at this time of year on a dense green, compact, 75cm tall and wide shrub.

Its main requirements are a full or ample part-sun situation with well-drained soil providing some moisture retention.

The second is the beautiful banksia Roller Coaster, a cultivar of the well-known B. integrifolia.

Roller Coaster grows to 50cm tall and 1.5 to 2m wide, producing its large yellow candlesticks against a background of dense, deep-green foliage from autumn, throughout the year.

It has similar soil and sun requirements to Mini Haha, and both make excellent tub specimens – think what a colourful display you’d have if you planted Roller Coaster and Mini Haha alternately along a driveway, and two or three containers of either or both would brighten a sunny balcony or patio beautifully.

As a final thought on these lovely plants, if you have an area where you can create an eye-catching new garden bed with a tall central plant surrounded by lower growers, plant the tall growing grevillea Honey Gem that flowers most of the year round, with a row of the hardenbergias, then a border of the Roller Coaster – the birds would never leave your garden!

 

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October is a transition month in University City gardens. If March comes in like a lion and out like a lamb, October arrives hot as a jalapeño but leaves as cool and crisp as a fresh green salad.

That parallels how the food garden works this time of year: You’ll still have peppers and green beans at the beginning of the month, but by the time Halloween rolls around, you’ll be picking greens, lettuce, carrots and beets.

October isn’t just a good time to enjoy food gardening. A number of other garden and landscape jobs are on the October calendar, and they are a lot more fun to do now that fall is in the air.

The only bad news is that it’s too late to plant most vegetables. This is the time when you reap the harvest sown in August and early September, not the time to start your garden. You might get away with a late planting of spinach or mustard greens, but even those are iffy.

The exception is garlic. The middle of this month is prime time for planting garlic to harvest next June or July. More on that in a future column.

If your planting mojo won’t leave you in peace, don’t worry. Redirect your energy to planting trees, shrubs and perennials. Mid-to-late October is prime time to set out new landscaping plants. Watch for bargains at local nurseries, and be on the lookout for fall plant sales sponsored by botanical gardens, schools and garden clubs.

One especially good opportunity, if you are interested in adding blueberries, blackberries and other fruit producers to your edible landscape, is Mecklenburg Cooperative Extension’s fall fruit crops sale. The sale benefits local 4H programs serving youth. You have until Nov. 7 to place your order. To learn more call 704-336-2082 or visit http://mecklenburg.ces.ncsu.edu/2012/09/mecklenburg-cooperative-extension-fall-plant-sale.

Extension programs in other counties also have sales, so you may also want to Google around a bit. I’ve seen an excellent selection at Renfrow Hardware in Matthews, and you can’t beat their good advice.

Rabbiteye blueberries deserve a special note. Rabbiteyes are local native plants, and the 4H sale offers varieties such as Tifblue that thrive here, produce a tasty harvest and look great in the landscape, with beautiful fall leaves that linger into January. Remember: They like our acidic soils just as Nature made them; no lime, please! Choose a couple of varieties (say, Tifblue and Climax) so they can pollinate each other for maximum fruit production.

The 4H sale plants are from good Southeastern nurseries (though not from North Carolina) and have strong root systems. They produce best in full sun but can tolerate some shade.

If you plant new trees, shrubs or perennials in October, be sure to water them religiously if we hit a dry spell, as happens this time of year. That also applies to all container plants and to shallow-rooted azaleas, even established ones. Your azaleas and camellias are preparing to bloom next spring, and you don’t want them to get stressed.

This is also a good month for all those odds-and-ends lawn maintenance jobs, including aeration (a core-type aerator is best – forget the spiky shoes, which were invented mostly to give ankle doctors more business). You can also add a sprinkle of compost after aeration.

If you have a fescue lawn, this is a good time to overseed whole lawns or fix patches. When you seed, keep the area evenly moist and very gently remove tree leaves daily. This is not the right time to seed Bermudagrass or other warm season grasses, but you can overseed warm-season lawns with annual ryegrass to keep them green through the winter.

When the leaves start falling at the end of the month, be sure to rake them off the lawn. Next month, we’ll all have plenty of free material to make compost with.

Start preparing now. Make sure your compost bin is in a spot that is convenient to reach. Beside your site, you can now informally pile up weeds and old vegetables left from the summer garden, then mix them with leaves when they start falling in a few weeks.

By the same token, you can get a jump on your spring vegetable garden by making beds now to use for early crops. Leave the beds in place under a sprinkle of straw or leaf mulch. When rains return early next spring, they can make it too wet to work the soil but not too wet to sow seeds or set out transplants of cool-season crops such as spinach, lettuce and sugar snap peas. Preparing your beds now in the fall – a trick learned from successful farmers – enables you to plant in early spring even when it’s too soggy to dig.

One last hint from experience: If you have sweet potatoes or sprawling winter squash or pumpkins in your garden, or ornamental sweet potatoes in your landscape, harvest them now and pile the vines where you can put them in the compost or use them for mulch. If you wait until a frost, you will end up with a black, gooey mess, since the leaves and stems turn to slime in cold weather.

It may fit the Halloween theme; it certainly makes for a scary cleanup job.

Speaking of Halloween, it’s worth noting that Rhode Island farmer Ron Wallace grew the world-record biggest pumpkin this summer; it weighed in at 2,007 pounds. That’s one scary Jack o’ Lantern!

Now if only our politicians could grow the economy like that.

The Chesterfield County office of Virginia Cooperative Extension is offering a series of free lawn and landscape seminars this month.

From learning about the fitness benefits of gardening to discovering native plants, novice and experienced gardeners will appreciate these seminars.

Backyard Smorgasbord – 1 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 6, at Meadowdale Library.

Discover how to create enjoyable and environmentally friendly backyard habitats.

Your New Tree – 6 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 8, at Central Library. Learn about selecting, planting and caring for a new tree.

Gardening and Fitness – 6 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 10, at Midlothian Library.

Gardening may be the best-kept secret to getting and staying in shape.

Native Gardening – 6 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 15, at Chester Library. Learn about native plants in natural landscapes, and preserving and restoring native plants into gardens.

To register for any of the seminars, call 804-751-4401.

TUCSON – Love to garden, or do you like looking at them? Either way, you’ll have a chance to see some of the best next Saturday, October 13.

Today on News 4 Tucson at 4 p.m., Deborah North stopped by to talk about the 15th Annual Pima County Master Gardeners Home and Garden Tour.

The 15th Annual Pima County Master Gardeners Home Garden Tour will be held on Saturday, October 13, 2012 from 9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m. Come tour the working home gardens of four Pima County Master Gardeners and the Extension Demonstration Gardens! Attend short instructional classes on a variety of topics including container gardening, fruit trees, irrigation, garden renovation, composting and water harvesting. See how the Master Gardeners do it: desert landscaping, flower gardens, container plants, fruit trees, vegetables, herbs, and more. Talk to the Master Gardeners: learn their challenges, get their tips for success, and ask your gardening and landscaping questions. All for only $10.00 per person or a ‘carpool special’ of 4 for $30.00 (children 12 years old and younger are free).
For more information on the upcoming show, check out the video above, and visit:

http://extension.arizona.edu/events/annual-pima-county-master-gardeners-home-garden-tour

Native Virginia plants soon will help create a place for reflection, mediation and remembrance for Nelson County in the form of a peace garden.

The Nelson County Rotary Club and the high school’s Interact Club began working on the peace garden last Friday, the International Day of Peace for 2012. The 484 square-foot garden will be incorporated into the Blue Ridge Medical Center’s landscaping. It will take about one year for the first phase of work to be completed; however, it will take several years for a majority of the plants to grow in.

“This is a calm, peaceful place for whatever people want to use it for,” said Michelle Dilendorf, the Nelson County Rotary Club’s president.

Each year Rotary International chooses a message for the Rotarians to carry out. When Dilendorf heard this year’s theme, “peace though service,” she immediately thought of one of her fellow Nelson Rotarians, Kia Scherr.

Scherr’s husband and daughter were killed in a terrorist attack in Mumbai in 2008 while the family was there on a peace mission. After their deaths, Scherr continued with her mission, promoting peace and conflict resolution among young people around the world, Dilendorf said.

“Her story is so powerful,” Dilendorf said. “You can see her grief, but you can see her pack her grief up and turn it into a positive force for the world.”

Scherr and her daughter loved to be outside in nature, which inspired Dilendorf to create a peace garden for the county, providing a place in nature for families to grieve or celebrate together.

The garden would be open to everyone.

“It wouldn’t be true to the idea of peace and conflict resolution if it was exclusive,” Dilendorf said. “That’s kind of counter-intuitive I think.”

Some ideas for the garden are to use it to host peer meditation and conflict resolution classes for middle and high school students, Dilendorf said.

Peggy Whitehead, the Blue Ridge Medical Center’s executive director and a Nelson Rotarian, said the center was excited for the garden.

“We think it will serve the purpose envisioned by Rotarians, which is to create a space symbolic of peace and harmony in our world,” Whitehead said.  “The gardens will also be an opportunity for education for our patients and community members who have an interest in knowing more about the plants we are growing and the generous collaborators who have contributed to the garden.”

One of the benefits of locating the garden at the medical center is that it will provide a calming place for patients who might be scared of the doctor. It would also be a place for reflection and decompression for caregivers and the medical staff, Dilendorf said.

“This would be a place for to take a deep breath and think about things without being inside a building or foreign environment,” she said.

It was these reasons and the center’s ongoing landscaping project that caused Dilendorf to ask Whitehead about incorporating the garden into the center’s landscape plan. Whitehead then brought it before the center’s board where the idea was approved.

Part of the new center’s construction plan involves a garden made entirely of native plants in memory of Uri Levi, one of the patients and friends of the center who had always dreamed of a meditation garden with medicinal plants that had been used throughout history.

“We were thrilled when the Rotary Club approached us with the idea of a ‘peace garden’ as part of the landscaping plan, and offered to help by seeking funding to help make it a reality,” Whitehead said. “We are really pleased to be breaking ground on this very special portion of the gardens and landscaping for the expansion of the medical center.”

Some of the design features include a gazebo with vines, like Virginia Creeper, plus stone pathways and shaded areas.

Ideas for artwork in the garden, as well as bricks honoring events or loved ones, are being discussed by the Rotary Club.

The garden is expected to cost between $750 and $1,000. The additional landscaping at the center is estimated at $30,000. The project is funded by donations and grants, both Whitehead and Dilendorf said.

A raffle will be held at the Rotary’s pancake fundraiser on election day for the garden.

The labor is being done by the 24 rotary members and the affiliated interact club at the high school. Volunteering and doing the project work is part of the Rotary’s requirements with their projects, Dilendorf said.

A lot of the materials for the stone pathways have been donated, as well as the gazebo. Some of the plants were donated also.

The garden will be an ongoing project for the club and community.

“It will take ongoing commitment from the community and staff to achieve everything we are dreaming about, but we hope this will always be a space where people can work together in harmony toward a common goal and live up to the ideas behind the Rotary Club’s ‘Peace Garden,’” Whitehead said.

The center has already been working with different county organizations including the garden club, the master naturalists, master gardeners, the historical society, the Wintergreen Nature Foundation and the extension service.

The goal is to expand it a little bit every year and to hopefully inspire other groups to put in peace gardens throughout Nelson, Dilendorf said.

“We hope that ripple effect spreads throughout the country and the world,” Dilendorf said. “It’s acting locally and thinking globally.”

Banksia Allyn Gold

WE’D like to draw your attention to a couple of delightful small native plants that we feel would provide a lot of pleasure for anyone with a garden, whatever the size.

The first is the delightful hardenbergia Mini Haha, a lovely form of the well-known H. violacea that produces an abundance of its eye-catching clusters of bright purple pea-shaped flowers at this time of year on a dense green, compact, 75cm tall and wide shrub.

Its main requirements are a full or ample part-sun situation with well-drained soil providing some moisture retention.

The second is the beautiful banksia Roller Coaster, a cultivar of the well-known B. integrifolia.

Roller Coaster grows to 50cm tall and 1.5 to 2m wide, producing its large yellow candlesticks against a background of dense, deep-green foliage from autumn, throughout the year.

It has similar soil and sun requirements to Mini Haha, and both make excellent tub specimens – think what a colourful display you’d have if you planted Roller Coaster and Mini Haha alternately along a driveway, and two or three containers of either or both would brighten a sunny balcony or patio beautifully.

As a final thought on these lovely plants, if you have an area where you can create an eye-catching new garden bed with a tall central plant surrounded by lower growers, plant the tall growing grevillea Honey Gem that flowers most of the year round, with a row of the hardenbergias, then a border of the Roller Coaster – the birds would never leave your garden!

 

To read more lifestyle stories

Published Wednesday, October 03, 2012 in Local

File Photo

Liz Tedder stands beside the Arnold family cemetery on the property of Oak Grove Plantation, which dates to the 1830s. A replica fence was finally put in place in April after a multi-year fundraising effort, for which George and Liz Tedder were recognized with a 2012 Preservation Award by Newnan-Coweta Historical Society. Mrs. Tedder now turns her attention to re-setting and repairing the headstones.

From STAFF REPORTS

news@newnan.com

The gardens and grounds of Oak Grove Plantation on U.S. 29 North just south of Palmetto will be open for tours Saturday.

The fall garden tour event, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., is a benefit for the ongoing restoration of the Arnold family cemetery on the property by current owners George and Liz Tedder. Admission for the tour is a donation of $10, with children under 12 admitted free. Attendees receive a free plant with each contribution.

The 1830s plantation at 4537 North U.S. 29 is complete with outbuildings and farm animals. Guests are invited to bring the family and a picnic lunch and enjoy the day among the five acres of gardens and grounds that the Tedders have been tending and creating over the last 29 years. The gardens are an interpretive restoration of what a 19th century plantation owner’s wife might have done, Liz Tedder explained.

Right now, in the early fall, the sasanquas have begun to bloom, and the hydrangeas and roses are still making a show.

In all, there are more than 25 garden areas to view, from shade gardens to semi-shade and full sun. There is an herb garden, formal garden, rose garden, secret garden, sunken garden with koi pond, playhouse garden … the list goes on.

Much of what Liz Tedder has put in her gardens has been grown from small plants and cuttings, and she has tried many varieties over the years.The sasanquas started at one foot tall and now after almost 30 years are 10 feet tall. She grows both heirloom plants and recent introductions and says the gardens are a good demonstration of what grows well in the Coweta County area. There will be extra plants from the gardens for sale to benefit the cemetery restoration project.

Recently the Tedders, along with those responsible for the Mary Ray School restoration in Raymond, were honorees at the Newnan-Coweta Historical Society 2012 preservation awards. The Tedders were recognized for their efforts on upkeep and restoration of the Arnold cemetery. For the more than 20 years of spring and fall garden tours at their home and grounds they have been raising funds to replicate and replace the cemetery’s old iron fence. Through donations from the tours and other events on the property such as portion of proceeds from weddings, along with help from descendants of the Arnold family, the new fence is finally in place. It was completed in late April 2012.

The ornate iron gate remained, and Liz Tedder found a company in Moultrie, Ga., that could replicate the design for a new aluminum fence. So that it would not look new and shiny with powder-coat black covering, she and the company were able to use a rusty color with flecks that to the unsuspecting eye looks like an old rusty fence. She also put in a retaining wall and now aims to repair and reset broken and leaning tombstones in the historic cemetery, and work on the landscaping.

There is currently wild landscaping in the cemetery area, including early roses from the 1800s. One old rose at a tombstone from which Tedder has grown more bushes is a Russell’s cottage rose with a bloom about three inches that first blooms red and becomes a purple-red. There are also heirloom bulbs such as a type of grape hyacinth with a feathery bloom in early spring. She hopes to add more early roses, plantings from the 1830s and some trees in the cemetery area for shade, and maybe some benches where visitors might sit and reflect.

Oak Grove Plantation and Gardens was built by Coweta County settlers right after Indian removal in the early 1800s.

The cemetery is the final resting place of members of the Charlie Arnold family and his descendants.

“The plantation is only five miles from Palmetto, so this family was part of that Palmetto group,” said Liz Tedder in an interview for a tour a couple of years ago. “One of them even served as mayor,” she said.

The Arnold family lived at Oak Grove for many years. Thomas Arnold was the last male heir, Tedder said, and after his death in 1980, his nieces inherited the property. But after they moved to Rome, Ga., the property fell out of the hands of the family.

“Leslie Smith and his wife had it from the 1940s until 1980,” said Tedder. “She was a midwife, and they were black, so a lot of black babies were born out here. I’d say this place was pretty well-known around Newnan.”

When the Tedders bought the property almost 30 years ago, the house at Oak Grove was still in its “pure state,” she said. That’s because — unlike many historic properties — the home was never vacant.

The gardens over the years have been featured in such publications as Southern Living magazine, Southern Living Landscape book, Country Gardens, Southern Homes, Atlanta Magazine and area newspapers. Images of the gardens may be viewed at www.oakgrovega.com .

In addition to Saturday’s garden tour, Liz Tedder is already looking forward to another spring tour, which for 2013 might be a little earlier in the year in April rather than May, depending on how early the spring plants begin to bloom. For more information call 770-841-0789.

 

BY NATASHA WASINSKI | Contributor

October 2, 2012 7:26AM

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Deerfield resident Sue Reinish, who owns How Does Your Garden Grow? inc., shows off the large perennial garden she created outside the Berto Center, the Chicago Bulls practice facility in Deerfield. | Buzz Orr~Sun-Times Media

Article Extras

Updated: October 2, 2012 8:40AM

DEERFIELD — Sue Reinish is an artist.

Her palette offers roses and petunias, pansies and daffodils.

“Everything I do in terms of landscape, I come at it from the vantage point of color,” she said.

Reinish has operated How Does Your Garden Grow? Inc. in Deerfield for nearly three decades.

A trained ballerina who taught piano and studied painting, Reinish explained that gardening is a similar creative art form.

“When I design landscapes I am really painting a picture,” Reinish said. “I’m painting in the ground and then it grows.”

When she couldn’t dig up any more space around her home, Reinish took to sharing her talent with others.

Her first “public planting,” she said, was for Briarwood Country Club, where she installed five flower beds near the front entrance of the club.

As a member, she couldn’t receive compensation for her work. In return, however, she got the idea and support to start her own landscaping business.

Today, her team of 10 workers does commercial and residential landscaping across the northern suburbs and in Chicago.

Seven employees have been with How Does Your Garden Grow? Inc. for more than a decade. Reinish reciprocates their loyalty by ensuring the typically seasonal business operates year round.

In winter, the crew hangs holiday decorations and plows snow.

Most work, however, is concentrated when the weather is warm and plants are in full bloom.

Projects during the spring and summer months range from lawn mowing and tree trimming to the creation of gardens, ponds, waterfalls and brick patios.

Reinish said the recent creation of a large perennial garden outside the Sheri L. Berto Center in Deerfield was one of the most exciting projects of her career.

Since the Chicago Bulls practice in the facility, Reinish said her workers fought over who got to do the job. On one day, they spotted Bulls superstar Derrick Rose leaving the building.

Needless to say, “it was a feather in my cap,” Reinish said.

How Does Your Garden Grow? Inc. does its fair share of smaller-sized landscaping projects, too.

Reinish recognizes that people are dealing with drastically tighter budgets since the economy took a dip.

That’s why she is happy to take on projects in stages or to keep the work simple, she said.

“My saying is, if you have good taste, I know how to mix plants (and) make something beautiful on small budget or big budget,” Reinish said.

2012 grand champion of the Hervey Bay Garden Club spring competition, Gavin Baldwin.

MOST households would have several wilted plants in the backyard thanks to the region’s recent dry spell.

But that’s not the case for the Hervey Bay Garden Club’s spring garden competition winner Gavin Baldwin who used ingenuity to help secure the honour of grand champion garden at the weekend.

Along with 18 months of blood, sweat and tears to create his tropical wonderland, the former landscape gardener’s clever use of about 10 44-gallon drums to collect and store rainwater has enabled his Kawungan garden to bloom.

Mr Baldwin said he was a regular customer at the Nikenbah Reuse and Recycle shop, which is where he found the drums, along with other ornaments and bits and bobs that take pride of place amongst a variety of gardenias, frangipanis, palms, bamboos and other tropical species.

“That’s my favourite shop. I get a lot of good stuff out there,” he said with a laugh.

“I got the drums from the tip and hooked them up to my downpipes. There’s a bit over 200 litres in each one and they fill up quite quickly.

“If I can rely on the rainwater I’d rather use that any day of the week. They’re getting a little bit dry now so I’m just waiting for some rain.”

As a first-time entrant in the competition, Mr Baldwin said he was elated to find out he had been awarded the prestigious title.

“I can’t believe I won. I thought even if I just got second or third I’d be happy but this is a really good feeling.

“Some days I walk out and I love it and sometimes I don’t because I’m out there every day but to see the surprise on people’s faces who see it for the first time is great.

“The garden does my soul really good. It’s my passion.”

Numbers were down on last year’s competition but garden club spokeswoman Henny Hoff said entries were still of high quality.

“Considering we have had such a dry year the gardens were still apparently very nice,” she said.

A presentation to all winners will be held at Torbay’s Tavistock Crt this Friday from 9.30am.

All winning gardens will be open for public viewing this Sunday from 10am to 4pm.

 

Winners

Class 1: Under half acre, three years and over

1. Barbara Bensen, 46 Fraser Dr, River Heads
2. Wendy Caffyn, Alana Crt, Torquay
3. Kim Buckspitt, 15 Hayworth St, Point Vernon

Class 2: Under half acre, under three years

1. Gavin Baldwin, 12 Queben Crt, Kawangan
2. Olive and Tom Phillips, 5 Moolyyir St, Urangan
3. Christina Maynes, 36 Harrison Crt, Urangan

Class 3: Best pensioner garden

• R and L Gaunson, 65 Pulgul St, Urangan
• Equal 2: Andrew Nightingale, 64 North St, Point Vernon and Betty and Col Winney, 16 Craig Crt, Pialba

Class 4: Best frontal

1. Ken and Annette Scurr, 95 Colyton St, Torquay
2. Bob and Donna Cliff, 1 Lakeside Crt, Torquay

•  Equal 3: Pamela Thomas, 163/100 Nissen St, Fraser Shores and Brigitta Schwary, 18 Cathy Place, Torquay

Class 5: Best Shade House

1. Bob and Lyn Emslie, 180 Christensen St, Urraween;
2. R L Gaunsen, 65 Pulgul St, Urangan
3. Col and Betty Winney, 16 Craig Crt, Pialba

Class 6: Best Institutional

1. New Horizon Village, McNally St, Scarness
2. Fraser Shores, 58 Nissen St, Urraween
3. Fraser Shores, 100 Nissen St, Urraween

Class 7: Best Vegetable Garden

1. Dawn Bryant Family, 57 Rowley Rd, Booral
2. Fraser Shores Retirement Village, 58 Nissen St, Urraween
3. Fran and Jeff Amor, 23 Marlin Dr, Kawungan

Class 8: Best Small Garden

1. Mr Mrs Burgess, 162/100 Nissen St, Pialba
2. Pamela Thomas, 163/100 Nissen St, Pialba

Class 9: Best Rural

1. Penny Macaulay, 4 Agnes Crt, Craignish
2. Rob and Corrie Blacker, 5 Jasmine Crt, Dundowran Beach
3. Margo Lawton, 30 Bluewater Rd, Booral

 

• Reserve Champion: Penny Macauley, 4 Agnes Crt, Craignish
• Grand Champion: Gavin Baldwin. Phone 4191 4229 for address details