Carolina Fall

Fall is, without a doubt, my favorite season.  That may seem like a strange thing for a gardener, but I love the cool nights and the bright colors.  I also like walking through leaves.  (Raking them, not so much)

Here is a miniature Japanese maple in our front yard.  I expected it to get larger, but in more than ten years it has hardly grown.  But it is pretty.

I took the hummingbird picture several weeks ago, just as the pineapple sage was beginning to bloom.  I was amazed at how well the picture came out.

We have transplanted a number of azaleas this fall.  I am now mulching leaves to protect them.  

So wet!

 It has rained constantly for more than a week.  We had over 10" of rain in June.  It is a wonder my garden hasn't drowned!  While everything, particularly the weeds, are green and lush, my vegetables are ripening slowly.  I had hoped to pick corn for the 4th, but it won't happen.  I have picked just one tomato.

The flowers are doing well.  Here is an orange crocosmia.  Such a delicate flower with a bright, bold color.  These are one of my favorite mid summer bloomers.

I continue to monitor our "critter cam".  We have seen a small fox and very small possum.  It is fun to see what visits the yard, and also interesting how our cat, who is now 14 years old, ignores them all.  As a younger fellow, he would have chased them all away.

It looks like it will finally be sunny for a great 4th of July celebration.

More critter stories

Saturday afternoon, my husband got to see the fox in broad daylight.  Unfortunately I missed it, but here is a pretty good picture, taken through the back door.  We now know for sure that it is a grey fox.

And below is my first ripe tomato.  Did the fox take a couple of bites?  Or something else?   I don't know teeth marks, so I can't tell.  It was very close to the ground, so it could have been any number of animals (neighbor's cat?  raccoon?).

I certainly hope this is not the fate of the rest of my tomatoes.

Another inch of rain today.  So we have had nearly 8" in June.

It continues mild

 I have never had 'Hens & Chicks" get as large as the one in this strawberry jar.  They are such sweet little plants.

The weather continues to be wonderfully mild for Eastern North Carolina.  To date, we have had only two days with temperatures above 90.  Today it was about 81 with low humidity.  What a joy.
The cooler temps and all the rain is letting the garden get well established this year.

Lots of things are blooming now.  Here is some cleome from the back yard, and an Easter Lily from the front yard.  The Knifophia (red hot pokers) are now blooming, as are canna lilies, St. John's Wort, phlox, daisies and black eyed Susans.

The first planting of corn is up about 4 feet and looking great.  We should be able to harvest our first tomatoes soon.

More on the critter cam

 Tropical Storm Andrea blew through yesterday, dumping more than3"' of rain in a day.  Fortunately, the wind was not too strong, so there is little damage.  Some of my plants are bent over, but nothing appears to be broken.

Here are pictures of two things blooming this week,  white crinum lilies and bee balm.  The St. Johns wort bush has begun to bloom,  as have the hydrangea bushes and the canna.  My two elephant ear plants are looking healthy, and I am seeing phlox again this year.  I never saw it last year, but I have removed a lot of wild strawberries and mint from that beds, so both the phlox and bee balm can grow again.

I am having great fun with the wildlife camera.  I have captured nighttime pictures of a possum, fox and raccoon, and daytime pictures of squirrels and chipmunks.  Also our cat and the next door neighbor cat are big camera stars.  Here is the best video I have gotten so far, of a young raccoon.

Wildlife camera

Since I saw a fox last week, we decided to buy an infrared wildlife camera for the back yard.  It arrived yesterday, so we are installing it this afternoon.  What fun to find out what really is going on back there, after dark!  Pictures will certainly follow.

We continue to work on the front yard.  Today we dug up a bed of Siberian Iris, which I will give away.  We also are moving monkey grass from one bed to another.  This will give the corn, tomatoes and pumpkins more sun, and more room to grow.

I am beginning to work on a more detailed list of all the plants in the yard.  I would like to have some type of garden layout, with everything names, and the general dates when each plant blooms.  More organization than I am use to!

Wall Garden

I can't take credit for this, but it is one of the most original gardens I have seen. This afternoon it was install on the  front wall of the library where I work.

The gardener has the plants in small pots, which he has in metal frame boxes.  He attached tracks to the wall, and then slid the frames onto the tracks.  He will water them daily, and can easily replace individual plants when he needs to.

Small spaces

Just out the back door, I have a small garden plot, between the house and the brick patio.  It is only about two feet deep, but I love this little space.  I have hyacinths in the spring, followed by astilbe.  This beautiful amaryllis is now blooming.  Yarrow will follow.  To the left of the amaryllis is fennel.  Although it is not a favorite herb of mine, I like growing it, so that the caterpillars of the black swallowtail butterfly will come to the garden.

Monday night I spotted a grey fox in the back yard.  I think an infrared wildlife camera is the perfect thing for the yard.  

Certified Wildlife Habitat

 Yesterday I had my yard certified as a Wildlife Habitat by the National Wildlife Federation.  It is easy to do.  You need to provide wildlife with food, water, cover, and places to raise their young.  This means that there are both natural food sources, such as seeds, native plants, berries and nuts, as well has feeders.


Your yard needs trees, bushes, and undergrowth  for cover, and water sources, such as ponds, streams and birdbaths.

I have noticed that as I have expanded the garden space, and reduced the lawn, I have had a marked increase in the number and variety of birds.

 In addition to birds, I regularly see squirrels, chipmunks, rabbits, a variety of bees, butterflies and on occasion a possum and a racoon.

The garden grows.

The weather has continued to be rather cool, and wet, so the garden has not had any major stress.  I hope that everything will be well established before the heat arrives.

 This past weekend we extended one of the beds in the front yard, and moved some plants from the south side of the house.  The oxalis do not look very good in this picture, but this morning I noticed they have new flowers, so I think they will survive the move.  The other plant we moved is a purple top verbena (Verbena Bonariensis).

The corn is coming up nicely, and all but two of our tomato plants look great.


I have planted moonflower around the front light pole.  The last two years it did not do well, but in the

past it has been delight.  I am hoping for better results this year.  The red flowers next to the mushroom are dianthus.  I planted them two years ago, but this is the first year they have looked so good.  

May has arrived

 It has been cool, grey and damp for a week now.  Everything in the garden is healthy, but nothing is growing quickly due to the grey skies.

We added a mulch 'walk way' across the front yard, with some nice stepping stones.  It looks good and has reduced the amount of grass.  It gives us a walking path between garden areas.  Another one will probably follow.

These purple flag (iris) are blooming nicely, but I have to admit, I do not remember planting them in the flower bed beside the driveway.  However, there are three nice clumps of them out there.

Tomatoes and corn look good, but are growing slowly.  I cut my first bunch of cilantro today.  One cucumber plant is up, but no squash yet.

I have sunflowers and moon flowers growing inside.  Both may be ready for the garden this weekend.

Planting time

On April 14 we put in our first round of sweet corn.  We planted four rows of corn, which is now about an inch high.  We also planted 8 tomato plants, one cherry tomato, one sweet pepper, four cilantro plants and four basil plants.  I hope to make salsa and pesto this year.

I also planted lots of annuals in various beds.

I have squash and cucumber seeds inside, as well as lots of sunflowers.  I hope to have those ready to go in the ground in early May.

Today I got 3 yards of mulch delivered.  We are going to make a pathway in the front yard, between beds, using mulch and stepping stones.  My goal is to eliminate most of the grass in the yard.

My lavender looks fabulous this year, so I am attempting to dry some.

We have smilax growing along the front porch.  A robin family has decided it makes a nice nesting area.  Here is mom robin in her nest, built on top of our flag pole.  Guess I will not be changing the flag this summer!

Back to the garden

It has been a strange spring.  It was warm early, then turned cool.  The daffodils and forsythia have finished blooming, but the dogwood and redbud have hardly started.

I cut the grass for the first time this past Sat. (March 30).  I also cut the liriope back.

The trip ends

On our final night in Reykjavik, we did see a wonderful display of the Northern Lights.  We had gone on two Northern Lights tours.  On both trips we saw the lights, and on both I was a bit disappointed.  What we saw were white streaks of vertical light in the sky.  They were interesting, but not at all what I was expecting.  Wednesday night, after a freezing cold Lights excursion, we were in our hotel in downtown Reykjavik, and suddenly from our balcony, we saw the most amazing Lights display.  There were large dancing curtains of green and white lights.  The display lasted about five minutes.  I tried to get some pictures, but had no success.

Earlier that day we had taken a day excursion on the Golden Circle, to see the famous geyser, the lava fields, and the main national park.  The North American tectonic plate and the European plate meet in Iceland.  The big crack diving the paved path opened up last year.   Here are some photos from that trip.

Thursday morning we flew to Oslo, and had a nice afternoon wandering about the city.  Thursday and Friday before Easter are national holidays in Norway, so the city was rather quiet.  We did enjoy coffee at an outdoor cafe.  It was cold, but so sunny that the patio was full of people trying to soak up sun.  Norway is still covered in snow.  It was just a 24 hour layover in Norway, and then a long trip home.

Where the European and North American plates meet

Reykjavik

This is a wonderful city.  It is the northern most capital city, and one of the smallest, with just over 100,000 people.  It is very compact, with narrow streets and houses blending easily with commercial property.  It was a province of Denmark until the middle of the 20th Century, and has a very Scandanavian feel.  In fact, they consider themselves one of the Nordic countries.

It is an incredibly friendly country, and it seems that most everyone speaks English, which makes it an easy city to wander.

The climate was milder than I expected, with temperatures in the forties, but when windy, it was bitter.

Since it is a volcanic island, the city taps into underground thermal springs for their water supply, and they use it to generate electricity.  But, as with all the cities we visited, Reyjkavik is very expensive.

The little red house is pretty typical of the single family homes we found in the city.  It was right across the street from our hotel.  The city view is of the down town area, also taken from the balcony of our hotel room.

Iceland & the Northern Lights

We arrived in Reykjavik yesterday afternoon.  Our reason for coming here was to try to see the Northern Lights, which are particularly active this winter.  So, the first thing we did after checking into our hotel, was to book a 'Northern Lights tour' for last night.

We were picked up at our hotel about 7:30, and then loaded onto a large GreyLines tour bus.  We then drove 90 minutes out into the country to get away from the city lights.  A well know Icelandic record producer has opened a restaurant and campground out  in the country, and he has added Lights tours to his offering.  So you can go out there and have hot beverages and restrooms while you hope to see the lights.  We arrived about 9 or so, and stood out in the cold until close to midnight.  No Northern Lights.  A couple of experienced watchers saw a glimmer on the horizon. 

The ticket allows you to return the next night if there is now viewing.   So, the five buses packed up and headed out.  We were one of the last two busses to leave, and we got about 15 minutes down the road, when the Northern Lightes appeared.  So, the driver found a place for us to stop, and two bus loads of us got out and were finally able to see the lights.

It was a 'mild' display.  They were not near as green as I had hoped, but they certainly 'danced' in the sky.  In a way they looked like clouds moving about.  But different.  They were certainly unusual and beautiful.  I tried to get some video, but just got dark sky.

We had wanted to go out again tonight, but the sky is clouding, so no viewing.

Red Light District

I can hardly write about Amsterdam without a word or two about the Red Light District.  This area of the city center is full of restaurants, bars, shops, and, of course, prostitutes.  As you would expect, it is full of tourists as well.  I have to admit, I was expecting something more flashy, like you would find in Las Vegas. 

Amsterdam has a wide streets, with very narrow lanes connecting them.  Most of these lanes are for foot and bicycle traffic.  Most, but certainly not all, of the prostitutes are on the lanes.  You can look down a lane, and see rows and rows of doors with red lights above them.  As you walk down the lane, you find that the doors are glass fronted, and lead into a small room.  If the lady is available, the curtains on the door and window are open.  If she is not, there are red curtains pulled across both.

Each room is a tiny cubicle, with a vinyl mattress covered couch or platform, a small sink and a chair.  Many buildings will have several cubicles, which  have adjorning doors.  The women stand or sit in the window or doorway, inviting customers. Sometimes you will see two or three women talking, with the adjorning doors open.   Many of the women appeared to be enjoying themselves.  Some were decidedly surly.  It made me wonder.  I know this is legal, but I have to ponder if all of these young women have chosen to do this.

It was a fascinating experience.  And from what I could see, the vast majority of the people walking the streets were curious tourists.

Now, off to Iceland, with a long layover in Oslo.

No

Anne Frank

The Anne Frank Museum is located in the building where the Frank family hid from the Nazis from 1942 until their capture in 1944.

Otto Frank's business was in this building.  Four of his employees agreed to hide the family there, along with the Van Pels and Fritz Pfeffer.  There was a secret annex on the top floor, in the back of the building.  The eight of them hid in these four rooms for more than 2 years.  In the summer of 1944 an unknown person alerted the Nazis to there whereabouts.  All of them were sent to concentration camps.  Only Otto survived the war.

This is one of the most moving museums I have been to.  The four rooms are dim and rather dank.  They had to use blackout curtains, so they did not feel the sun for two years.  During the day everyone had to be quiet, because the workmen in the building were not aware of their hiding place.

We waiting outside, in the fierce wind, for nearly an hour to get into the house.  The crowd was so long, that it was a very slow trip through the various exhibit rooms, up the four very steep, narrow staircases to the top, back rooms. 

The last exhibit room had a video interview of Otto Frank, late in life (he died in 1980) talking about Anne's diary, and how surprised he was by many of her thoughts.  It too, was quite moving.

This was our only museum visit in Amsterdam.  Both the Van Gogh museum and the Rijksmuseum are closed for renovations.  We spent the rest of our time touring the city, by foot, bus and boat.

Building on water

Amsterdam is actually below sea level.  For centuries, the Dutch have had the ability to build dikes and canals, and to pump water off the land they want.  The well known windmills were built to run pumps.  Because the land is soft, and wet, buildings are built on pileings.  Today they are concrete, but for centuries they were wood.  The wood rotted, and the buildings leaned.  It is common to see a row of leaning houses.

Most buildings are still built with a hoist hook at the top.  Stairways are narrow, and many buildings do not have elevators, so furniture is hoisted up and through windows.

We found a number of buildings with interesting plaques in the walls.

There are several types of cornices on buildings, which can be helpful in dating the construction.  The simple triangle was indicitive of a warehouse, and used for centuries.  Most of these lovely old buildings have businesses on the  ground floor and apartments above.  Seventy percent of the residents of Amsterdam rent, rather than own their homes.

Amsterdam

First stop on this trip is Amsterdam.  What a beautiful city.   Unfortunately they are experiencing an unusual cold spell.  And is it ever cold!  Highs are in the thirties, but the wind is fierce, making you feel awful.  It really is difficult to be outside for long.

The cold doesn't stop people.  Residents bike here.  It is amazing how few cars you see.  There are trams and busses, which are certainly used, but bikes are the main form of transportation.  As a result, the city seems quiet, and there is little air pollution.  This all makes for a very nice city.  We took a canal tour today, and heard that there are more than 1million bikes in the city, but just over 800,000 people.  Bike parking lots are everywhere.

Two short days here.  Later I will write more about the architecture and Anne Frank.  Now it is off to Iceland, with a long layover in Oslo

Early Spring

It is time to get back to the garden, and back to this blog.

Over the Christmas holidays, we had a family workday.  A dozen folks worked with me in the yard for two hours.  What a huge difference it made.  My months of inactivity, due to the shoulder surgery last year, took a toll on the yard.  After all the help, I felt like we were a bit on top of things again.  Since then, I have tried to get a little bit done each week.  But it has been a wet winter, so my days outside have been few.

We are now seeing the first signs of spring.  Here are a few samples.