Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Camellias under the Pines

Today I am going to Cofer's to pick out 3-4 new camellias! The ex-chicken-run includes an area under the pines that is perfect for camellias! The area is also perfect for my hammock. Kelly helped me plant dozens of shrubs and perennials (including a Yuletide camellia) this weekend there too. So I pulled up an old article I had written to brush up on camellias and thought I'd share it with you. After reviewing the planting instructions I am certain of one thing - among those pine roots I am not inspired to dig a hole for anything bigger than a 1 gallon rootball!:

Camellias are elegant evergreens for the South

Published in the Athens Banner-Herald on March 9, 2007.



The American Camellia Society lists less than 20 recommended nurseries throughout the country; Cofer's Home & Garden Showplace in Athens is one of them. If you want to see your camellia in bloom before you buy it then this is a good weekend to select from dozens of varieties at Cofer's. Your only problem will be choosing.



There are 250 species of camellias, all evergreens native to the Orient. Let's focus on two familiar types of camellias, plus a species camellia well worth adding to the garden. The most common camellias are sasanquas and japonicas.



Sasanqua camellias (Camellia sasanqua) bloom at the end of the year, starting to bloom in late fall. The blooms tend to be smaller and more fragrant than the japonicas. The plant tends to be smaller too, maturing at 6 to 10 feet tall, and less cold hardy than the japonicas. One of the most common sasanquas is 'Yuletide'.



Japonicas (Camellia japonica) bloom at the beginning of the year, from almost Christmas until almost Easter. These are blooming now and are at their peak in February. That is when Massee Lane Gardens south of Fort Valley, Georgia and headquarters of the American Camellia Society, holds their annual Festival of Camellias. Maturing at 10 to 20 feet tall, japonicas can take more shade and should be kept out of afternoon sun.



"So which would you recommend?" I asked Stuart Cofer. "Both! That way you have blooms in two seasons. The japonicas do best sheltered from the wind. They prefer morning sun with shade from noon on and love pine shade. Winter sun can scorch the leaves of japonicas planted in deciduous shade. This doesn't hurt the plant, just looks bad and worries the homeowner. Sasanquas are tougher plants and can take more sun." There is a 13-year-old treeform sasanqua by Cofer's main entry - the west side. Of course, all the other conditions must be right. Full sun is easier to take in perfect soil conditions than in Georgia clay. Our warm summer nights are another challenge for camellias. Most resources would recommend afternoon shade for any camellias.



I have seen varieties of Camellia hiemalis and Cammellia oleifera (tea oil camellia) in plant sales and nurseries. Both bloom late in the year. Fifty percent of the vegetable cooking oil in Hunan, China is from tea oil camellias, producing an oil similar to olive oil. Tea oil camellia is hardy to zone 6 and a large plant, maturing at 10 to 20 feet like the japonicas. Cold hardy camellias such as this one are a hot item, with gardeners north of us wanting some of the beauty surrounding us.



Tea camellias have been used to make black tea in China since 500 B.C. In fact, the only commercial tea plantation in the United States is in South Carolina and harvests the tea from Camellia sinensis. The Charleston Tea Plantation First Flush Celebration will be held May 12. The 'first flush' is when the tiny new leaves push up above the previous years growth, the basis of a once a year special edition tea. Find out more about the festival at www.bigalowtea.com or sample a box of Bigalow's American Classic Tea, available in area grocery stores. Camellia sinensis is cold hardy into zone 6, does well in shade and matures at four to six feet high. The single, white 11/2-inch blooms with yellow stamens appear in fall. C. sinensis 'Rosea' has pretty pale pink blooms.



When you plant a camellia in the ground, follow the instructions found on the American Camellia Society Web site: www.camellias-acs. org. They recommend the top of the rootball be slightly higher than the soil line. Do not cover the top of the rootball with soil, but do cover the entire planted area with mulch. Camellia roots need good drainage and air. The ACS also recommends that the planting hole be at least two feet wider than the rootball and the backfill removed from the hole be placed back into the hole when planting. Many people in Georgia love their plants to death by adding lots of goodies into the holes when planting. If you want to amend the soil, amend the entire bed before planting and make sure that bed is elevated so it drains well (and away from any structure), even after it settles with time.

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Time in Her Garden

Today I planned to take a friend to lunch before going to the book launch of In the Garden with Billy, a book I had been looking forward to reading. Jean and I sat on her patio for a few minutes, talking in the warming sun when she mentioned she wished she had asked me to bring a tiller or tool to help break up a contractor’s clay planting bed so she could put a few plants in. Jean has to be an amazing gardener, because her garden is blooming despite the horrible sub-soil clay mess her poor plants have to live in. A couple years ago we planted blueberries, azaleas, a cotoneaster and Knockout roses, all doing well now. Today we made a mad dash to Pike’s to buy soil, mulch and plants, then Jean heated homemade stew and made grilled cheese sandwiches while I used a new pitchfork to break up brick-hard clay. Four bags of topsoil only amended half the bed, but we considered with our time and soil limitations half a bed done fairly well was pretty darn good for today. The other half would be dealt with in spring and just mulched for now. A mature Knockout rose divids the two sides. I planted 22 daffodils where I could dig deep-enough holes and moved some ‘Goodnight Moon’ bearded iris that had spread since the start was brought from my garden. I completed the planting with asters, mums and pansies, then 4 bags of mulch while Jean planted a container with annuals. I managed to scrub most of the dirt off my hands and nails before jumping in the car to get to the book launch.
Was sweating in the garden better than someone bringing me lunch in a restaurant? You betcha, because those flowers will bloom for several weeks, then several years for Jean. The daffodils will be a brilliant surprise come spring. I think that taking Grandma to an all-you-can-stomach buffet shows love, but not much imagination. If you have a friend or relative that you should visit, consider doing a little work instead of just going out to eat. Washing windows, filling birdfeeders, planting pansies, or framing photos can give someone many hours of joy.
Oh - and In the Garden with Billy - well worth reading!  Good news, since I bought copies for 4 friends!

Sunday, October 17, 2010

This Ol' Shed

I had knitting friends over Thursday night. One of the best things about having folks over is that the house is cleaned in a frenzy right before. One of the best things about that is my clean house collided with help in the garden and perfect Fall weather on Saturday morning - so why not spend the day in the garden! Kelly transformed bare post-chicken-yard ground into a mulched area under the pines just perfect for a collection of camellias, my hammock, lots of spring bulbs, plus sun-loving perennials. At the same time I shoveled out the chicken shed and laid fresh mulch in its place. Thank goodness there wasn’t a mirror around, because for a while I was wearing my Aussie style Tula hat and a bandana around my nose and mouth to avoid the dust. OK, if that image isn’t bad enough, let me add that it wasn’t a classic western look, thanks to a tacky turquoise and pink abstract design on the bandana. I am glad I never actually saw how I looked - I was just happy to breathe with all the dust being stirred up.


So what was the chicken pen now has a table and chairs on fresh mulch, with an open air feel, between the shade garden and the north vineyard. Sounds lovely, especially if you have browsed a coffee table book on garden sheds. Let me tell you, when I say shed I mean shed. And the table is green plastic surrounded by white plastic chairs gathered up around the property. I'm havin' trouble attaching a photo tonight, but I'll get before, during and afters of this project. Still, it has a very calming, relaxed, country feel that fits me. Later I may go out and buy better furniture, but the shed will always be a shed. It’s fun that Kelly, who has been helping me reclaim the garden, is very OK with the style. She even lifted up the old set of wood deck steps that I could not get onto the loads to the dump last week and said “Two posts on this and you have a plant stand. Think of how pretty all of your ladies-in-waiting will look!” My ladies-in-waiting are all the one gallon plants waiting to find a home in my garden. We also decided the collection of 40+ year old fence rails could make a fun edging for the new bed.

The next step is to move the potting bench that my father made for me about 20 years ago into that area. It’s a perfect location and, luckily, the bench is on wheels. The three metal trash cans that held chicken feed will be stocked with potting soil and orchid bark beside the bench.

Today I pruned the variegated pittosporum on the front corners of the house. These were huge masses of foliage when we moved in 9 years ago, but were pruned into windswept clusters of trees. That looks great, but ongoing pruning is needed to keep that look. When I was getting advice on work needing to be done to the house, I was told to prune away any branches touching the house. Leaf and limb pickup is tomorrow and hopefully a new coat of paint on the house is coming soon, so pruning had to be done today. A mountain of pittosporum branches are now piled up beside the road.

I’m addicted to listening to my IPod while gardening and this time I started Knit with Courage, Live with Hope: a good book, but maybe not the best subject for me. It is written by a knitwear designer dealing with her husband’s fast-moving cancer and constant pain. A book being read to me is a good background not only to pruning, but to frantic knitting. Last night I cleaned out my knitting basket and discovered the cabled scarf I was knitting for my uncle. Uncle Steve is living in New Jersey, rather thin, and tells me he walks almost a mile a day. He is also 94 and it is starting to get cold. I must get this scarf done! So I sat on the deck for several more chapters and knitted. The scarf is now long enough to function, but I might as well finish up this second skein before casting off, washing it and getting it into the mail.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

Life without chickens

This weekend the 13 ladies were placed in the coop, then onto a trailer, and headed to their new home. Their coos and personalities and eggs will be missed. With shorter days ahead I was not able to get excited about caring for them in the dark before and after work. I must admit the five foot king snake that decided my ladies are fantastic roommates and was swinging from the shed rafters when I checked on the ladies at dusk one evening helped me decide, especially after a friend assured me that having chickens meant dealing with a couple snakes a year. Sir snake was escorted to the other end of the property once again. Hopefully he will stay in the woods this time, dining on rodents instead of chicken eggs.

Yesterday I loaded Dad's pickup twice, tied the tarp over each load with knots that actually held (proud of that!) and went to the dump. Now I have an open 9' x 12' or so shed behind my walk-in shed with a cross-breeze and amazing views: the shade garden under the huge pecan on one side, woods on another and a young muscadine vineyard on the third.  Not to mention the old chicken yard with lots of loose soil and fertilizer under huge tree trunks. Dad's decades-old rusty cultivator will look great against the white wood wall. Oh, the possibilities are endless!

Today I will clean out the mulch under the shed and start to lay out the new beds, lay new mulch there, under the shed, and around the trees. I have begun to look at my nursery of container plants with a whole new perspective. There is a spot perfect for camellias and a place for my new trumpet vine, plus a large area for Lenten roses, heuchera and ferns. There is also a place where I must fight to kill an ancient stand of nandina, but the nandina was cut back two weeks ago and two huge, planted containers can rise above that battle.

For now an existing plastic table and chairs will move into the space, and I can hang chimes from a dear friend, and the comfy hammock.  I'll look at redecorating and adding a lighted ceiling fan later. Off I go...