Micro Micro Climates

I did a double take this morning as I stepped off the porch with Shadow on her leash. It was around dawn, and a heavy frost blanketed the lawn. It's December 4th, right? Almost winter? Yet there, blooming next to the garage, were impatiens.

I've loved impatiens since I was a little girl. Have you ever noticed that their flowers sparkle? It's true. Pick one (well, maybe next June when you have them!) and look carefully at the flower. See those tiny sparkles? I'd pick flowers and float them in my kiddie pool like lily pads.

On Long Island, impatiens are the suburban gardener's friend. They grow anywhere and often reseed. Here in Virginia, I avoided planting them because they need so much water. Last summer was hot and dry. Plus I don't have a lot of shade. But Hubby and father in law showed up in May with a flat of mixed impatiens because they knew how much I loved them.

Where to fit them in? I knew I needed shade, so the only place for them was near the porch. I tucked them in by the small walkway and steps next to the garage. It was easy to dump the pet's water bowl on the flower bed every morning and night when I changed their water, so the plants stayed well watered. And being so close to the porch, I was hopeful that the rabbits and deer wouldn't nosh on them.

Today when I stepped off the porch, I looked to my right and saw what was blooming. It's December 4th, it was 30 degrees outside, and there was an orange impatien smiling at me, alongside dianthus and pansies.

There's got to be a nice warm pocket of air snuggled right between the porch and garage, a micro micro climate keeping the impatiens warm and happy.

Thank you, micro micro climate. Let's see how long my impatiens will bloom!

Today's picture...Pierre, posing near the micro micro climate area about a month ago.

Garden Volunteers Part II

What's a garden volunteer? It's a plant that seeds voluntarily throughout the garden. In the past, I've written about the volunteers in the flower garden. This morning Shadow and I tromped through the soaking wet flower garden taking stock of all the volunteers this year.

First, the coreopsis tincturia is back...with a vengeance. Why is it that it's growing in the flower garden in spots I don't want it, but the verge along the driveway where I DO want it naturalize it refuses to grow? I gave some to my neighbors this year. I hope they're still talking to me next spring after it takes over their flower beds.

The Buddleia (butterfly bush) has been a wonderful surprise. We purchased two white ones from Lowe's, and a purple one came with the Spring Hill Gardens Butterfly Gardening Kit that I bought. The purple one has gleefully spread seeds everywhere. I have baby butterfly bushes growing up through pure sand on the pathway in spots we are working on, in ground like cement in other spots on the pathways, and throughout the flower beds. I've kept a bunch, given some away, and have more for the taking (if you live close by! come with pails and shovels). We transplanted several along the edge of the forest. They don't look very happy, but the one I transplanted towards the front of the flower beds, near the trellis, also looked dead after I moved it. Butterfly bushes seem to have a very long tap root, and I'm assuming that they go into shock when you dig them up...but they do recover. The transplanted on is thriving now.

The marigolds self-seeded all along the pathway, and I scattered the rest. I have thickets of marigolds. I love them. They are so wonderful and will bloom here until November or a very hard frost, and I rarely see insect damage on them. Plus they act like natural bug repellents!


I had cosmos self-seed last year too. I grew a patch from a seed packet I bought at the dime store; it tipped over in a heavy rain, ripped up by the roots. I simply pulled it out and tossed the spent stalks into the woods. To my surprise, a little patch rose up in the area where the stalks had tipped over. I left it alone, and what do you know? Giant patch of cosmos now...and yesterday, it tipped over in the rainstorm. I wonder if this is how cosmos self seeds? Just kidding. It doesn't need to wait for a rain storm!

Zinnias self seeded a bit, but the nicest surprise was Vince major...Hubby bought me a six pack of Vinca major from Lowe's last year, thinking it was the purple Vinca I wanted for a little shady spot. I planted it in the flower garden and thought nothing more about it. Now it's scattered itself all about the flower garden. And while the bright pinks clash horribly with the orange and yellow marigolds, I can't help but marvel at its tenacity.


What's growing in your garden these days? Other than weeds, of course, which I have...in abundance.

May your Sunday be filled with joy!

Gardening Day

Today's is gardening day at the farm. I'll step our for a few minutes to visit the Amish farmstand in Pamplin City. Since we didn't grow many vegetables this year, I like to supplement what we have with some fresh or unusual produce from the farmstand. This time I'm going to leave Shadow home, since she was a barking maniac in the car and I think the little boy who stays at the stand with his mother is afraid of her.

We're planning to finish the front garden today - put down landscape fabric, add mulch, and edge the area with rocks picked up on the property. John completed laying the foundation for the remaining sidewalk near the front and we decided to add yet another flower garden to the area. I told him that's on my 2-3 year plan. Next year my priority is to get the vegetable gardens productive and add a few farm animals, such as the chickens we've been talking about since spring.

Gardening chores at this time of year are fairly routine. I'm weeding as usual, and mulching like crazy. The drought is back on, with The Farmville Herald trumpeting that the Appomattox River has the lowest water flow on record since 2002. We walk to the creek that creates the border between Prince Edward and Appomattox County every evening, and in the spring it was a rushing torrent. We even saw a muskrat swimming there! Now it's a trickle, and the little side creeks that feed into the main creek have dried up. I hope it rains soon. The ground is like concrete.

The photo is baby Pierre, about four months old...asleep, which is rare. His latest tricks are jumping onto the kitchen counters ("No! Bad kitty!" Pierre laughs, while Shadow cowers) and placing his toys in the garbage can in my office. I have to go through the garbage to make sure I'm not throwing away furry mice.

Wonderful Summer

It's summer, glorious summer! We have been busy beyond belief. I guess everyone is, but this is our first summer on the farm (such that it is!) and our first summer owning our own home.

Fourth of July weekend was great. I shut down the company early on July 3rd, and although I did a ton of housework this weekend, we managed to find time for dinner with friends, watching old classic movies on TCM, and cooking John his favorite dinner - my special pot roast. We did skip the fireworks on July 3. John's back was bothering him a lot, and I couldn't see us sitting on the ground or on lawn chairs for a while. Luckily for us neighbors on Olive Branch Road had great fireworks which we could see from the second floor of the house.

We did so much work on the yard. I weeded another large section of the perennial garden, then remulched the entire second half. I am thrilled at how many flowers are blooming now! The photograph I'm posting to the blog is one of my pictures, taken after a thunderstorm, of a snapdragon I grew from seed. I have coreopsis, rudbeckia, cosmos, Bachelor's Buttons, marigolds, snapdragons, zinnias and hollyhocks all coming up or blooming and all planted from seed.

I wish more people would plant flowers. I've always had this strong urge to encourage beauty wherever I go - in Manhattan, I would stop and enjoy the little alleyway gardens and I encouraged everyone to garden. Rooftops, fire escapes, alleyways...if there's a patch of dirt, plant a flower. Why have things ugly? I've had some people say it's too expensive, but the garden I planted here didn't cost much. Truth be told, I bought packets of seeds at Dollar General for 10 cents each. Yes, you're reading that right! Even the gladioulus bulbs I bought at Dollar General came out to around 10 cents a piece. I just scattered the seeds and watered them and now I have patches of beautiful flowers gracing the garden. Why won't people take the time to do this? It is just so gorgeous...flowers lift the spirits...make the world a more beautiful place!

The ticks seemed to have died down now, but the Japanese beetles are eating everything in sight, including the apple trees, the morning glories, the hollyhocks and hibiscus. We have traps and sprays but all to no avail. The man at the Prince Eward County Cooperative Extension office was great about helping me with my questions about the orchard trees - he sent me so much information. Unfortunately, I'm too late to spray this year, but we are now armed with our to-do list for next spring.

My gratitude knows no bounds. New friends from church gave me a used keyboard, and I am back playing piano. I regret daily giving away my sheet music ten years ago, but I know that little girl who got my beautiful spinet piano and all that sheet music was so happy, she probably loved it and played it for a long time. I just wish I could remember the author of that sonatina I played all the time. I found the Beethoven sonatinas I played in high school online, and printed the music out, but haven't found the one I played at my senior recital. I wish I could find it!

Thanks to all who submitted comments on my last post. To the lady who asked about Catholic model horse collectors, I don't know of any such group. There's a Christian model horse collector forum which is nice but not particular to Catholics.