faulker042

Yellow yarrow (achillea), Purple salvia 'Caradonna' and Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant' Achillea, salvia and nepeta are three easy perennials for a colorful combination. While I'm fond of purple and yellow/gold, there are other colors of achillea and salvia that pair well. The nepeta is just a great all-round companion for many designs. When walking through my garden on this rather warm November day, the basal foliage of all three plants was easily recognizable. Seeing these hardy favorites today was a reminder to spread the word to other gardeners. The yarrow and nepeta are easy to divide and the salvia 'Cardonna' is a self-sowing favorite.  Would you believe—there are still a few remaining blooms on the nepeta in my cottage garden! Deer, rabbits and drought don't faze this plants. Plant all three in the spring in full sun. Well-drained soil is important to keep the plants happy. Achillea 'Moonshine' zones 3-9 Salvia 'Caradonna' zones 4-8 Nepet...

Nandina domestica 'Alba' November 15 2011 With the arrival of cool autumn days, creamy white berries drop in weighty clusters on nandina domestica 'Alba'. This variant sport may be difficult to locate in nurseries, but should you stumble upon it, it's a great cultivar. This nandina, as with most plants that come to my garden, had to pass the deer resistant test in order to have a permanent location outside of my cottage garden fence. Unfortunately, deer eat nandinas. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise. For at least four years, I have grown the 'Alba'  outside my fence. Every winter the deer devoured the foliage. The deer will literally eat nandina down to stems and stubs. It's sad to see, but the shrubs do bounce back. The nandinas sprouted new foliage every spring and were fine in the summer. That said, they were never going to be fully enjoyed or allowed to mature with the yearly winter feast. Over the last few months, I have moved all of my ...

A little rearranging and tweaking of existing plants evolved into a favorite combination. Inspired by  lilies combined with monarda , I tucked my oriental 'Starfighter' lily up against my monarda (bee balm) 'Raspberry Wine' to replicate the garden inspiration. The two create a color echo with the raspberry color of the bee balm echoed by the throat of the lily. In April, I transplanted 'Starfighter' to the new location. It is related to 'Stargazer' and that variety will provide a similar look. Oriental lilies are best moved from mid-September through mid-October, but moving the lily in the spring didn't deter the bloom. Knowing that there are no guarantees with bloom times, I hoped for at least a week of overlap of the bee balm and the lily bloom.  The bloom times weren't synchronized but, I was not disappointed with the results because there was another plant that worked just as well! The lily is fronted by the pure white snowballs of 'David...

Food truck dining is taking the Triangle Area of North Carolina by storm. Foodies make a game of finding new and exciting food trucks. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks and late night options are flexible and fun while the prices are reasonable. The Parlour Ice Cream truck parked behind the Chirba Chirba Dumplings Truck. At MotorCo in Durham. Roving diners search out trucks for simple fare, the unusual or to satisfy sweet cravings. Want a homemade pimento cheese sandwich with a side of tomato soup? Find the Grilled Cheese Bus . Got a thing for caramel? Try a caramel apple cupcake at Daisy Cakes followed by salted butter caramel ice cream from The Parlour ! Chirba Chirba Dumplings Truck. The best thing about dining from a food truck? These are LOCALLY owned and operated. In fact, my husband and I were so impressed by the many young adult owners and operators. If these folks were trying to establish a bricks-and-mortar restaurant, the cost and risk would be high. This new trend is an aff...

I'm wild about Wild Quinine ( parthenium integrifolium )  after seeing mass plantings at The Battery Gardens in New York in June 2011. In fact, I was so mesmerized by the tiny white pearl blooms that I failed to take one photo, but found a few on the gardens website ! I returned to do a bit of research and decided that this is a native wildflower to try in my meadow garden for 2012. Quinine is a perennial that blooms in summer. Seed heads can remain over the winter. zones:  3a-8b height: 36-38" light:    low to full sun soil:      medium Finding the plants is not impossible, but I decided to try seeds for next year. According to the instructions on my seed packet, it is best to plant quinine in the fall or cold stratify for two to three months.  Fall sowing has always given me good results as our weather can often turn too hot, too soon in the spring. I'm not one to pamper pots, so I prefer to direct sow into the ground.  With the moisture fr...

Frost on the pumpkin? So it was...though I have no pumpkins. We've already had several frosts here and I'm way behind on my fall gardening. Life happens—wonderful things as well as the not so good. I'm now on day twelve of a cold. It's behaved more like the flu, though I received my annual flu shot on October third. At any rate, I missed one glorious week of weather before the frost arrived. Cabo San Lucas View from our room. Prior to my plague, we were in Cabo San Lucas for the wedding of son, Chris and his stunning bride, Nicole. I need to request permission to post their photos, but I have to share with you that the private beach ceremony, followed by a champagne brunch was marvelous! Richard and I spent a few extra days in Cabo and will definitely be going back. More about all of this in a future post. Prior to the wedding, I was writing furiously. One day, I just began writing a fiction novel and couldn't stop! I wrote 60,000+ words in 30 days. Then, I decided ...

Château Val Joanis winery and gardens. The white rock radiates warmth to the grape vines. Pertuis, France (Provence). April 2011. Fanciful and French—here are a few FRANCiful things I've seen. Part Two. Provence. We found Château Val Joanis with a little help from our friends on the SlowTravel France Forum , a car and a GPS. The winery is located between Pertuis and Villelaure, twenty-five kilometers north of Aix-en-Provence— our home base village during our April 2011 visit to Provence. The château gardens are open from April through October and if you are on a driving tour, I recommend that you go a bit off the beaten path to stop by for an hour. The famous Mistral winds were kicking up during our visit on April 12, but as stated on the website, "...the terraced gardens are carved out of the slope and constructed in an area protected from the Mistral winds using stones salvaged from a Roman pool."  Table vignettes are strategically placed around the garden courtyard. (...