Outdoor Weather Once Again

When it's 50 degrees and partly sunny, it's time to be out again.  I had two garden moments today: one wild and one tamed.  At the Audubon Preserve just outside Sea Pines, I saw a trillium in the parking lot.  It was not wild, but planted and marked!  Still, a native wild flower in its habitat.

This was more wild--a Chickasaw Plum blooming 

amid the Saw Palmettos and the Loblolly Pines 

near an opening in the forest close to a  pond.

On our return from birding, we spotted two hardy gardeners 

out in their plots at the community gardens.

Just a little sun and some moderate temperatures

will bring those "rare birds" out!

Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens

Several garden surprises here, both old and new. The visitor's center is just two weeks old and some of he gardens are not even planted yet.  I did find some great plantings and scenarios in the older gardens near the old Craftman-style custodian's cottage.

First surprise:  Bamboo.  Hundreds of varieties.

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Turns out that these bamboo groves were experimental and date from the 1920s.

Second surprise: a Mediterranean garden.

These oranges were growing in a planting backed by

a stucco building wall painted a great yellow orange

 which also warms the spot and allows the warm climate plants to thrive.

Third surprise: a rain garden near the lake.

Compared to the large rain garden near our lake at home, it was a small kidney-shaped swale that strained run-off before it entered the lake.  The plants were native to Georgia so I didn't recognize many of them, especially this tree.

Possomhaw?

Third surprise: Crape Myrtle allee (which I recognized after a week in the South but wished I could have seen in bloom).

Easy clues to identifying Crape Myrtle: structure of limbs and texture and color of bark.

Other surprises: the tea bushes garden was not yet planted, the formal garden paths were laid out but not planted, the children's garden and the butterfly garden were just a sign saying "Future site".  The bamboo maze paths and two story look-out were built but the bamboo not yet planted.  Biggest surprise:  I'll need to return in 3-5 years to see it all as I expected it to be.

Signs of Spring in the South

Also at Wormsloe Plantation just south of Savannah, Georgia, if you can look down 

instead of up at the huge live oaks, you can find small signs of spring's arrival.

These lovely blooms were near the custodian's cottage along a path.  

Are they like our snow drops or more like lily of the valley?

In the courtyard of the museum building, I found some forsythia blooming.

Delightful!

Tree Moments to Remember

At Wormsloe Plantation in the 1890s, a father planted 400 live oak trees to commemorate 

his son's birth.  The mile long lane is now breath-taking in many ways.

The father also built this gate to commemorate this same son's coming of age two decades later.

The columns and gate are lovely, but the living live oak trees which grow quickly to 50 feet high, 

but take decades to spread up to 100 feet wide make the greatest statement years later

whether coming--or going back from the house ruins.

The original home was built of tabby and still stands in ruins from the 1730s.

Some nearby live oaks are much older than the ones that line the drive.

These centurions still guard the house in ruins hundreds of years later.

At the time of the building of the original home, all the trees would have been cleared to allow the breezes from the waterway to cool the home and keep the mosquitoes at bay.

Trees!  Love them!

Bonaventure Cemetery in Savannah

Bonaventure Cemetery is an eerie place with the Spanish Moss (not truly a moss) hanging from the old live oak trees.  The place is left a little wild as a garden and that adds to the eeriness also. Something about the unkempt looks enhances the feeling of neglect and decay expected in an eerie place.

Yet, Nature always arranges itself as seen in this photo.  Or is it the photographer's eye?

Here the garden is not manicured but seems to arrange itself for the camera.

Earlier this week, we had been in gardens with an English influence: tightly trimmed boxwood and neatly patterned brick walkways.  Everything was arranged in geometric order.

Here in the cemetery it seems that Nature arranges by light and color hue and organic shapes.

This live oak was in a more open area but the slanting, late afternoon sun

made the Spanish moss almost shimmer in the breeze.  Again, the shrubs seemed to arrange themselves even though there was not a visible pattern.

Maybe it's just these Northern eyes 

so used to white snow and black pavement (on a good day for winter driving)?

Interesting Watering Systems for New Plantings

Touring  Baynard Ruins in Sea Pines Plantation on Hilton Head, we saw these interesting methods for watering newly planted tropical plants.

Closer view shows the bag acts like a rain barrel.

The smaller bushes have a similar system but it takes a hose also.

Or is it just weed control?

Surely it drips water also...

I need to do some research on these methods.

Enjoying New Garden Sights at Hilton Head Island

We escaped the snow and headed for this low country sea island. It 's still jacket weather but there is no white.  We actually saw camellias  blooming in red, pink and white in Beaufort earlier this week.

The blooms have been around since October and will fade away in March.

These show some wear and tear from the cold here, but the color is great to

eyes starved for something besides white and black.

Here are some pink camelia bushes flanking a gate--and palm trees.

The pansies are planted in many gardens and landscape beds.

Just lovely to color-starved eyes!