a tree ornament

Here is creative piece of public art / graffiti sculpture on Duke's west campus. This picture was taken during one of the last weeks of the semester.

May is a good month to see what is blooming at Sarah Duke Gardens. But is also worthwhile to notice all the new perennial growth that is making promises for summer. Tomorrow's tall Joe Pye weed and Asiatic hybrid lilies are gaining some serious height as I write this. Sometime in the humid and hot weeks ahead they will bust open their buds; but they can be appreciated well before then.

Joe Pye weed


cabbage leaf coneflower

my great recession garden

Most of my good sun grows flowers and shrubs, so I do not usually keep a big kitchen garden. However, I can appreciate local produce whether it comes from a farmer or a friend's yard. Every summer I try to eke out some room for an eggplant or two, one tomato, and a couple of basil plants. Not much to keep track over.....see this related post from 2007.

But this year is different; everyone is growing a vegetable garden! So I decided to till up a good sized portion of my yard and join the movement. Now we have promises of squash, tomatoes, burgundy pole beans, basil (Thai and Genovese), bell peppers, chives, oregano, dill, eggplant (Chinese and “regular?”), and pumpkins. And I threw in a few packs of zinnias and marigold seeds…..and a creeping jenny- just for show. My plot is too small given how far the pumpkin and squash vines will travel. But I'm planning on taking things as they come. A few snips here, a stepped on crooked-neck yellow squash there, I can handle it.

The sand and pebbles are to mark the spots where seedlings needed help to germinate. Although, with the dependable moisture over the past two weeks, I haven't really needed to tap the rain barrel. The post and twine set-up is to serve as a deterrent for my two dogs. If a tennis ball gets thrown in there, it probably will not stop them.

I will try to keep some pics up as the garden grows unless it becomes a huge failure. Then I will probably just post about my wildflowers growing in the ditch by the road.

Japanese banana

....at Sarah Duke Gardens. Taken yesterday, May 6th about 4:45pm

the knotweed thread

So here is my query from Carolina Garden Web, the forum that solved my Japanese Knotweed mystery:

http://forums2.gardenweb.com/forums/load/namegal/msg0512564822437.html?4

What has kept me from throwing this thing away is a new clue that I uncovered over the weekend..... Mine may be a less-than invasive version that blooms red in the late summer. To be safe, I will contain it inside of a large pot (possibly an old recycled trash can- Oscar the Grouch style). I remember my neighbor said it was a red bloomer. The roadside pest has flowers of white. And his mature clumps look tame. Tall....but tame.

P.S., another common name for this plant, besides "Mexican bamboo," is "kiss me over the garden gate." Hmmm. I don't think I am ready for that.

careful out there

These pictures are of a "mystery plant" I received from a neighbor. I knew something was up when it grew almost 4 feet in two weeks. A little digging on the web turned up some useful information. It turns out that it is an exotic invasive. Japanese knotweed was brought to the US decades ago to control erosion (like kudzu). It runs rampant along wet roadsides and streams, especially in Appalachia. So, I will be ripping it up and replacing with either a red bud tree or camellia sasanqua this fall. As for my neighbor, I have forgiven him because he has given me a bunch great things (criniums, miscanthus, yellow flag iris). Plant swaps are a wonderful way to get to know your neighbor and your yard....as long as you know what you're getting!