This fellow, a red-bellied water snake showed up under Anita’s car in our garage this weekend, where we found him happily dining on organic frog legs…and other frog parts. Our cat, Zirconia was interested, but unwilling due to his advanced age to engage this potential play toy.
Red-Bellied Water Snake Read More »
Also loving moist soils in the garden is our native Canna flaccida…yes, there are native canna lilies. Most folks grow Canna flaccida for the bright yellow flowers, but the seed pods that top the plant now are simply exquisite. When the pods dry, they can be shaken to produce a distinct rattling sound…great entertainment for
Another American native – Canna flaccida Read More »
Our native cardinal flower, Lobelia cardinalis is simply on fire in the garden now, with spikes reaching 5-6′ tall. As you can imagine, the hummingbirds are enjoying the tasty treat. Moist to wet, organically rich soils grow the tallest plants, although cardinal flower also grows in typical garden soils but just doesn’t get as tall.
Lobelia cardinalis – Cardinal flower Read More »
Get well soon wishes go out to our friend David Culp, author of the hit gardening book, The Layered Garden. I had just seen with David a couple of weeks ago in Cincinnati where he received an award from the Perennial Plant Association for his wonderful book. David is just starting the road to recovery
Get Well Soon Wishes to David Culp Read More »
Lighting up the garden now is the August-flowering form of red surprise lily, Lycoris radiata var. pumila ‘Fire Engine’. The flower stalks emerge overnight, and voila, here they are. The foliage emerges in September and grows all winter. I hope you’ll check out these and the rest of our incredible lycoris offerings.
Lycoris radiata pumila ‘Fire Engine’ Read More »
Anita and I are always looking for ways to improve our photography skills since capturing the essence of a garden in a photograph can be a challenge with all the variables that mix to create a satisfying image. Practice is one of the keys to improvement and so is learning techniques from garden photography professionals. We
Garden Photography – Photo Capture and Processing Workshop Read More »
The rain lilies are quite incredible in the garden now as summer rains have them blooming almost constantly. Here are two images taken this week…top is Zephyranthes ‘Batik’, and the bottom is Zephyranthes ‘Rose Perfection’. Rain lilies can tolerate bone dry conditions for months, then the flowers explode 3 days after a rain shower. Flowering
Rain Lilies flowering up a storm Read More »
If your ferns arrive a tiny bit crushed, please excuse us. I discovered the culprit early this morning when checking inventory in the greenhouses. Evidently our fox babies love ferns as much as our customers…in this case, the perfect spot for an early morning cat nap.
Cat nap in the ferns Read More »
After another deluge of rain last night, we’re now sitting at 7″ of rain for the last week, which leaves us nearly 10″ above our yearly norm…progress on the ark isn’t happening nearly fast enough. On the positive side, I’d taken lots of cool mushroom photos this summer including this un-named specimen above that struck
Someone hurry and finish the ark Read More »
We’re looking for a part-time equipment operator who can operate a tractor, mower, and preferably a skid steer and front end loader. Hours may be up to 40 hours some weeks, and less when weather or work load dictates. If you know anyone who has this skill set and might be interested, please have them
Wanted – Equipment Operator – Part time Read More »
