Wallace Gardens

Margo Rey Music: Love Conquers All

Tue, 14 May 2013 07:17:52 -0400

Ron and I just went to TriBeCa Film Fest in NYC to see Bridegroom.

Here is the official trailer: http://youtu.be/uN1F49l8DDc

Ron is a producer of the film and I have 2 songs for sure in the Movie (possibly 3 songs).

1. This Holiday Night (Margo Rey &…

Robinia pseudoacacia ‘Twisty Baby’ (Dwarf Black...

Tue, 07 May 2013 09:28:39 -0400

Robinia pseudoacacia ‘Twisty Baby’ (Dwarf Black Locust)

Before planting this tree, it’s important to appreciate the entire tree, for better or worse. It is a native to the southeastern United States, but is considered an invasive species in some regions.

What’s to Love:

Robinia ‘Twisty Baby’ is a fast-growing, small, deciduous, specimen tree (8-10’ tall), best utilized as a focal point in the garden. It has graceful, curving branches, dripping with fragrant white racemes in spring (5-7” long) that smell like orange blossoms. Prune only in spring, just after bloom, to avoid removing next year’s flower buds. The tree is deer resistant.

Black Locust trees are considered an excellent nectar source for honey bees. Bee keepers harvest the monofloral honey from Robinia pseudoacacia (False Acacia, sometimes labeled American Acacia) for its low acid content and its high fructose content, which allows it to stay liquid for a long time.

The Cautionary Side:

Locust borers can be a problem, riddling the trunk and branches with holes where they lay their eggs. When winter ends, larvae burrow into the trunk, weakening the tree, causing it to become stunted and diseased, often killing the tree.

Suckering will occur around the trunk, and these new shoots should be removed regularly to maintain the integrity of the tree. Watch for scale, leaf miner, powdery mildew and canker and treat immediately, or remove infected branches and dispose of carefully. Situate the tree in a well-drained location to avoid root-rot and fungal disease (Phytophthora), especially in regions receiving heavy rainfall. Information on twig blight and cankers can be found here.

In France and Italy, the flowers of Robinia pseudoacacia are eaten as beignets: battered, deep fried in oil, and sprinkled with powered sugar. However, other parts of the plant are considered poisonous. Information, here on which parts of the plant are edible, and which are poisonous.

In regions with heavy snow and ice, the contorted branches are susceptible to winter storm damage.

A little ‘Ambiance’ this morning from another...

Sun, 05 May 2013 10:53:18 -0400

A little ‘Ambiance’ this morning from another Amaryllis.

I ordered a few extra Amaryllis bulbs in January and I’ve been potting them up over the last few months so I have weeks and weeks of blooms. I soak the bulb roots in an organic compost tea from Authentic Haven Brand for about 20 minutes before potting them, and then I water lightly over the next few weeks. The end result: multiple flower stems and huge blooms. After the flowers fade, I’ll put them in the ground in an area reserved for Amaryllis. This is a flower bulb that can be enjoyed through early summer, with a little planning ahead.

Foliage spills from the tower of this birdbath. The potted...

Sat, 04 May 2013 06:31:11 -0400

Foliage spills from the tower of this birdbath. The potted begonia sits above the water level so it won’t get soggy.

Saturday, May 4, 2013: the 10th Annual World Naked Gardening...

Fri, 03 May 2013 18:19:47 -0400

Saturday, May 4, 2013: the 10th Annual World Naked Gardening Day! So - what are YOUR plans?!
Sweet, sane, still Nakedness in Nature! —ah if poor, sick, prurient humanity in cities might really know you once more! Is not nakedness then indecent? No, not inherently. It is your thought, your sophistication, your fear, your respectability that is indecent. There come moods when these clothes of ours are not only too irksome to wear, but are themselves indecent. Perhaps indeed he or she to whom the free exhilarating ecstasy of nakedness in Nature has never been eligible (and how many thousands there are!) has not really known what purity is—nor what faith or art or health really is. ~ Walt Whitman

I’m not sure if it is, but this looks like a Cherokee...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 22:13:32 -0400

I’m not sure if it is, but this looks like a Cherokee Rose, the state flower of Georgia, Rosa laevigata. In any event, it’s a lovely capture from herbanlife.

Shade gardening - forget the flowers…just use Begonias for...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 19:43:38 -0400

Shade gardening - forget the flowers…just use Begonias for their foliage. They are available in an array of colors, shapes, sizes, and growth habits. Use them as bedding plants or accents in container gardens.

The Lady of the Rains (1886), woodcut by Arthur Burgess, issue...

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 18:57:05 -0400

The Lady of the Rains (1886), woodcut by Arthur Burgess, issue of The Century Guild Hobby Horse.

The Haunted Garden by HoiYan.

Sun, 28 Apr 2013 18:48:34 -0400

The Haunted Garden by HoiYan.

The Four Phases of Luna, container garden, featuring oxalis,...

Wed, 24 Apr 2013 08:42:04 -0400

The Four Phases of Luna, container garden, featuring oxalis, wire grass, and eucalyptus…and a steady diet of organic compost tea from Authentic Haven Brand.

Published in 1484, Herbarius of Arnoldus de Villanova, this is...

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 16:14:00 -0400

Published in 1484, Herbarius of Arnoldus de Villanova, this is the first known printed picture of a Peony.

Reprinted in The Book of the Peony (1917), by Mrs. Edward Harding.

Succulents in a repurposed Pomerol Bordeaux wine box...

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 14:29:34 -0400

Succulents in a repurposed Pomerol Bordeaux wine box from Château Le Bon Pasteur. Such a lovely wooden crate should be put to work after the wine is gone.

Paeonia suffruticosa (tree peony) is native to China, where it...

Sat, 20 Apr 2013 09:44:38 -0400

Paeonia suffruticosa (tree peony) is native to China, where it is known as Mudan.

In front of the Audience Hall of Mu Tsung Huang Ti … there were planted thousand-petalled tree-peonies. When the flowers first opened the fragrance of their perfume was perceived by everyone. Each blossom had a thousand petals, large and deeply red. Every time His Majesty gazed upon the sweet-scented luxuriance he would sigh and say, ‘Surely such a flower has never before existed among men!’ (Ninth-Century Chinese Writer)

Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 6: Biology and Biological Technology, Part 1, Botany, by Joseph Needham (Cambridge University Press 1986).

The tree peony is not actually a “tree” but more of a woody-shrub preferring some shade from harsh afternoon noon. The woody stalks produce the next season’s flowers and should be left in tact throughout the winter (unlike herbaceous peonies which die to the ground each season). They are very slow to establish, but well worth the wait. Huge blooms appear in mid-spring (before herbaceous peonies) and the flowers are surrounded by lovely fern-like foliage with a reddish tinge.

Every American needs to know about this American hero, Jeff...

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 18:48:22 -0400

Every American needs to know about this American hero, Jeff Bauman, who lost both of his legs in the Boston marathon bombing. He looked into the eyes of the bomber who set the bomb down in front of him, two minutes before it exploded. While he was in the hospital in critical care, he was able to provide police with information and a description which helped them narrow their search, enabling them to more quickly identify the suspects.

Bauman has employer-sponsored heath insurance with Costco, but it will only pay a fraction of Bauman’s expenses due to the massively high cost of his medical bills, and a pair of prosthetic legs.

PLEASE SHARE, PLEASE DONATE. Information, here.

wasbella102: Frida chair by La Tapicera in Spain

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 18:21:46 -0400

wasbella102:

Frida chair by La Tapicera in Spain

bible-garden: Rose-Shaped Map of Bohemia (1677) “A map that...

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 18:10:31 -0400

bible-garden:

Rose-Shaped Map of Bohemia (1677)

“A map that shows Bohemia as a stylised Hapsburg rose. The stem firmly connects the flowering Bohemian rose to the fertile soil of Vienna, the Habsburg’s political centre. The Latin text at the bottom explains:

“’There grew a graceful Rose in the Bohemian woods, and an armoured lion standing guard next to her. That Rose had grown out of the blood of Mars, not of Venus. […] Do not fear, lovely Rose! There comes the Austrian. […] The Rose of Bohemia, bloody for all the centuries, where more than 80 battles were waged. She has been now drawn in this form for the first time.’”

LSD by Benoit Paillé, Montreal, Canada.

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 18:01:13 -0400

LSD by Benoit Paillé, Montreal, Canada.

Crepis virens (Hawk’s Beard, aka garden weed). Flora...

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 17:23:08 -0400

Crepis virens (Hawk’s Beard, aka garden weed). Flora Batava (Plants of the Netherlands, 1877), Vol. 15.

Crepis Virens: “Crepis, Pliny, is from the Greek crepis, a kind of boot; and the second Latin name means green, fresh. It was called Hawkbit because the hawk was supposed to pluck it and smear its eyes with it to improve its vision.” ~British Wildflowers in Their Natural Haunts (1919)

Refuse to let the darkness win.

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:57:41 -0400

Refuse to let the darkness win.

An open meadow is transformed when the crabapples bloom....

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 15:25:47 -0400

An open meadow is transformed when the crabapples bloom.

Malus ‘Prairifire’ (Crabapple) is a medium-sized flowering landscape tree with a rounded head for full sun, preferring moderately wet soil. (The trees in these photos are planted along the edge of a natural streambed running through a wide open meadow.) ‘Prairifire’ is one of the best crabapple trees for the southeast, resisting many of the usual problems that Malus is known for. The April flowers are followed by masses of small crabapple fruits that persist into fall, a favorite fruit for birds.

Crabapples are effective in mass plantings, but because they are considered smaller landscape trees, they are also a good choice for patio trees, or specimens for the front yard.

A chart from NCSU showing the best crabapple trees for the landscape can be found here.