The Secret Garden

If you look the right way, you can see that the whole world is a garden.”
― Frances Hodgson Burnett, The Secret Garden

Pink Tulip Tree

Magnolia × soulangeana (saucer magnolia) is a hybrid plant in the genus Magnolia and family Magnoliaceae.

Protect Your Plants during Spring Cold Snap

 

Cold Temperature at Night Only - 

Cover tender plants with light cotton sheets or with cardboard boxes. You can weight them down with rocks or limbs.    Do remember to remove them the next day when the temperature rises.  

Cold Temperatures during Day and Night -

Clear plastic is not recommended.  On a sunny day, even when it’s below freezing, the air under clear plastic can cook your plants. 

• Black plastic is preferred
• Use a stake to tent the plastic

If the cold only lasts an hour or so and if plants are protected from the wind by a wall or a line of shrubbery, they will probably survive just fine.

Pruning your Knockout Roses

Do you see new shoots growing on the canes of your Knockout Rose Bush? 

This is a good sign that it is time to prune. 

1.  When should the Knockout be pruned?

• Early Spring

2.  How much should be pruned? 

• Your rose bush will typically  triple in size after pruning so cut it back one foot and it will be three feet when it is finished growing.

3.  How can I promote blooms?  

• Knockouts will bloom from Spring to first Frost about every 5-6 weeks. 
• There is no need to deadhead as they are self cleaning, but regular trimming will promote new growth  and produce a tidier look. 
• Use a balanced fertilizer or fertilizer formulated for roses.  Experts recommend to apply after the first wave of flowering.

Here's a great link to growing Basil, one of my favorite herbs.

http://tipnut.com/grow-basil//

Spring Eqinox

There are two equinoxes every year – in March and September – when the sun shines directly on the equator and the length of day and night is nearly equal.  Seasons are opposite on either side of the equator, so the equinox in March is also known as the Spring Equinox in the northern hemisphere. However, in the southern hemisphere, it's known as the Autumnal (fall) Equinox.  

Spring

Yesterday the twig was brown and bare;
To-day the glint of green is there;
Tomorrow will be leaflets spare;
I know no thing so wondrous fair,
No miracle so strangely rare.
I wonder what will next be there!
~L.H. Bailey

Recommended Tasks for Roses

Recommended Tasks for Roses

And I will make thee beds of roses, And a thousand fragrant posies.–Christopher Marlowe (1564-93) Pruning Timing is determined by the class of the rose plant and the hardiness zone in which it is growing. Most rose pruning is done in the spring, with the blooming of the forsythia as a signal to get moving. If you don't have forsythia, watch for when the leaf buds begin to swell on your rose plants, meaning the bumps on the canes get larger and reddish in color. Feritilization Fertilize roses at bud break, then each month during the growing season, or according to package directions. Stop Fertilizing in August. Watering Roses should get one inch of water a week during the growing season, either from rain or irrigation.        Disease Prevention Remember that different types of roses vary greatly in their resistance to diseases and the maintenance they require. To grow roses successfully, you must select varieties that require an amount of care equal to that which you are able to provide. Shrub type roses bloom beautifully with few chemical controls needed, while the more susceptible varieties such as hybrid tea roses require an effective spray program to be in place before the growing season begins.   Start a regular spraying program to control black spot and other rose maladies as soon as the leaves emerge. Mulch roses well, but be careful not to pile mulch against the root base.

A Charlotte Garden: Great Places to Buy Plants in Charlotte

A Charlotte Garden: A recent question I got through the A Charlotte Garden facebook page was "Where can I buy plants in Charlotte?"  I realized ...

Daffodil Poem

Daffodil Poem by William Wordsworth

I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud

I wondered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd.
A host of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the Milky Way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced; but they
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee;
A poet could not but be gay,
In such a jocuned company;
I gazed - and gazed - but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought.

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then by heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.

WILLIAM WORDSWORTH

Simply Love Gardening Launches New Garden and Decor Site

04/13/2013

March 2013 – Charlotte, NC- The new Simply Love Gardening website, www.SimplyLoveGardening.com is the garden décor headquarters for all of your gardening needs.  Whether you are looking for planters, hammocks, garden tools, fountains or pergolas, it is all there.  For our grand opening, we will offer 10% off for our first 10 customers who purchase and rate a product. Gardening enthusiasts, as well as beginning gardening hobbyists, can log on to the new site to find an array of innovative garden décor products and accessories. We offer an easy to use shopping cart and checkout. All customer orders are completely secure and our customer information is kept private. All  personal information provided to us is transmitted securely using SSL encryption. So, log on now! Simply Love Gardening is the premier site for innovative outdoor living décor. From stylish planters and statues, to the best in patio and outside furniture – it’s the one stop brand for all outdoor décor needs. Simply Love Gardening also offers a unique selection of garden helpers, such as high tech pruners, telescoping loppers and rakes that meet the demands of both gardening hobbyists and enthusiasts alike. Visit the site today at www.SimplyLoveGardening.com.  Be one of the first 10 visitors and receive a 10% discount on your first product purchase!