Green Garden Group Travels

April 13-15 the Green Garden Group ( 16 of us) traveled to Western North Carolina visiting the Carl Sandburg home, the Botanical Gardens at Asheville and Pearson Falls.  We overnighted at Lutheridge- just grand - and had the most wonderful time.  We saw, over 3 days, more trillium than we imagined ever existed in the world - such an amazing experience

Here we are in Carl Sandburg's Library



Pearson Falls, Saluda, NC

More!!

White Iris







White Trillium





 



Fothergilla

Blue Iris Cristata



Blue Babies !!!!

A check of the bluebird boxes at Sullivan yesterday revealed 9 eggs in 3 nests - we have a full occupancy!!

photo by Bob Herbert

We also planted Swamp Marigolds (Caltha palustris) in the bog and sunk a huge tub containing native lotus (Nelumbo lutea) in the back of the large pond.  And, as an aside - Bob Herbert went swimming, well, wading, actually. 

Tadpoles coming ( aka "Sex at Sullivan")

If you haven't been to Sullivan lately, you do need to go - the flowers are spectacular, we have given a "finished" look to the plantings around the ponds, put in another 75+ plants. And while we were busy planting and mulching - lookie here:



Tadpoles in the making
-photo by Bob Herbert



Up and blooming!!

Trout Lily ( Erythronium Pagoda)

Wild Bleeding Heart ( Dicentra eximia)



White trillium ( Trillium grandiflora)




Celandine Poppy ( Stylophorum diphyllum)

This is such an exciting time in the woods - new blooms almost daily - buds emerging, waiting for them to bloom, worring over plants that have yet to emerge.   They are like our children, we have nurtured them throught last summer's droughts and we are praying that they have survived the winter.  We joy at each discovery, we hope for the ones who have yet to leaf out.  Join the excitement, the commitment, the joy, the discovery - walk the woods regularly and observe.

92 Down, 179 To Go

Recycled pots for the new additions



Today we planted 72 marginals ( Water Iris, Blue pickerel plant, Swamp potato and Lizard's tail ) as well as 20 Spatterdock which are floating plants, similar to waterlilies.

We look forward to their emergence from the water's surface, and even more to their blooms.

These plants are placed in pots containing good ole red Carolina mud ( it is afterall what most pond sides are) and they prefer a basic soil.  We have fertilized each pot with Nutricote ( a timed release fertilizer, triggered by temperature rather than moisture like the well known Osmicote) and lime to sweeten the soil.

This was a new experience for all of us - lots of reading necessary to try to do it right.

Some of these plants have been added to the Hutchinson Court pond as part of an ongoing naturalization and mitigation of that body of water.

For the scientists the Latin follows:

 NativeWater Iris - Iris virginica

Blue pickerel - Pontaderia cordata

Swamp potato - Sagittaria latifolia

Lizard's tail- Saururus cernuus

Spatterdock - Nuphar lutea

The hand off - and into the pond it goes