~gardenias in late November~

~gardenias...in the wild~

~~~~~

On 6 June 2009, I uploaded this image here, gave it a caption - and never returned to finish whatever train of thought I had...and here I am, nearly two and a half years later - at my Father's for Thanksgiving, thinking that I'd like to post something here, since this space has been neglected for a long time - and what do I find?

Gardenias.

A photograph of gardenias taken in my garden on a warm South Carolina day.

As much as I'm trying to be all grown-up about it (since I am a grown-up after all) - I'm homesick for my southern garden.  I'm thankful for my position in northern Virginia, and truly, experiencing a real Autumn was pretty spectacular - I had forgotten how everything changes and, literally, glows.  But it's obvious that my muse for these pages was my garden - and last Garden Blogger's Bloom Day, I looked out into my rental home's yard, and there wasn't a bloom to be found.

How sad is that?

But I have decided that in a small strip of soil, adjacent to a brick wall by the drive, that this spring I will plant flowers (perhaps all from seed) and I will plant, interspersed in the bed, vegetables.  Lettuces, squashes, peppers.

(The deer are one complication - here I find myself, inside the beltway around DC, and there are deer that come out at night and eat just about everything).

But on this unusually warm late November evening, instead of worrying about deer, or missing my garden, or longing for the sweet fragrance of a gardenia, I'll think about a little temporary garden that will feed me in ways that I desperately need.

(And, I think I need to start writing more here too). 

Happy Thanksgiving - to any of you that still happen to drop by.  Hope it was a good one.

Comments

[Annie in Austin]

No camellias here either, Pam- but love the photo. Even if we can't grow camellias, an inch of rain fell on Austin overnight, giving us a reason to be thankful this morning.

It could be fun to plan an all-seed garden with edible flowers & herbs mixed in with the vegetables - perhaps nasturtiums, calendula, marigolds? And starts of chives that will pop flowers in light purple?

It was very cool that you bought amaryllis bulbs so your dad could watch them grow. No matter how many times you see it happen, it seems like magic.

Annie at the Transplantable Rose

[sailingcvgal]

Your musings have been missed!! Glad to see you back here.

[Jess]

Pam, my parents live in the area and the thing that has worked the absolute best are the motion detector water sprayers. Do not believe the 'deer resistant' hype of plants in stores.... the reason that they are in the cities is because they are so overpopulated vs the natural areas in that part of the world... food is scarce and they will eat anything.

And while you are up there among the veggies, I say PLANT A LILAC, peonies, and tulips and plant all this stuff that no way in H E double hockeysticks can be grown here!

[Sheran]

So glad to hear from you, Pam. Glad you are enjoying your job. I have really missed your posts. We are having a lovely end-of-fall in the Upstate of SC.

[Pam]

Annie, my Dad loves watching the amaryllis grow - and for the time between now and Christmas, it becomes the focus of our phone conversations... the 'amaryllis updates'. This year I got him a red one, white one, and that relatively new pale green one (which I'm curious to see).

Thanks SailingCVGal - life's been a bit nuts, and has had me going in a million different directions. I would like to think it's calming down, but I'm not sure that is the case! I miss this space though, so hope to keep posting when I can.

Jess, I'm only here for two years - as a Visiting Scientist at the National Science Foundation. I'm renting a house (that allows me to have the three dogs here... which was quite a challenge) - so the yard at this place is very unkept. I still have my SC garden, and head there when I can - so my hope is to not invest much here (since I'm temporary and a renter) - so I hope to have some pots in the back yard (which is surrounded by a 6' fence) and perhaps some things in the front, along a brick wall (there is mint there that is doing great - and some oregano - and I planted about six perennials/annuals there in August and the deer left them alone). I grew up in Charlottesville, so not that far from here - and my parents have struggled with deer for over 30 years in their gardens - so I am a bit familiar with what works in this area and what doesn't, thankfully! There are two old (and not very healthy looking) lilacs here - no peonies, and interestingly, two (older) varieties of Camellia japonica (one is just showing a little color now) - I'll be curious to see what they are, since the plants look old and very established (the house was built in 1949) and so it isn't the newer, more cold tolerant varieties developed. When I moved here, in late summer - the perennials and grasses were stunning - so different from SC.

Thanks Sheran! I couldn't get enough of Autumn here - the color was just amazing. People were saying that the colors weren't as vibrant this year, but to me they were over the top.

[Les]

It's no Charleston, but there is place in Virginia where Camellias grow just as lovely. I hope you had a good Thanksgiving and your dad enjoys the Amaryllis.

[Debra]

I love Gardenias also and here on the west coast I have blooms all year long