Garden siteseeing in the US
Welcome to Diggin鈥� It鈥檚 weekly trip to garden sites. Since last week鈥檚 virtual garden visits were to Australia, India, Norway, and Sweden, this week we鈥檒l stay in the United States, checking in with gardeners in California, Maryland, Mississippi, and Indiana.
Out on the West Coast, Pomona Belvedere, a lover of plants and books, combines gardening and nature in . This California gardener often grows old-fashioned plants that you don't see much anymore. She battles gophers, admits to killing every gardenia she's ever owned, and enjoys native plants as well as heirlooms.
On the East Coast, Christa maintains , 鈥渙rganic gardening on the edge of Washington, D.C.鈥� The Maryland gardener chats about the joys of Freecycle and giving away unwanted crape myrtles to someone in her area who was willing to dig them up from her yard.
This sort of sharing by gardeners has always gone on, but the Internet makes it much easier to find someone who can use what you don鈥檛 want.
I enjoyed seeing Christa鈥檚 heirloom veggies, especially the 鈥渇ish peppers,鈥� possibly so named because they went well with fish dishes. The variegated foliage makes them quite ornamental as well as edible.
Eve owns three cats and a dog and does her of Mississippi. Did you know that there鈥檚 a plant with the common name cashmere bouquet? The tale is that the soap got its name from the plant. It could have been the other way around, though. These things are hard to track down sometimes. It doesn鈥檛 really matter. It鈥檚 an interesting-looking plant.
So is the succulent known as basketball plant. I look at a photo of it and think, I鈥檇 love to grow one of those. Not that I have a good spot for one, you understand. It鈥檚 just one of those plants that鈥檚 intriguing. I have whole lists of them 鈥� I suspect plenty of others do, too. I call mine the Someday List. Someday I'll have just the right conditions, the time, the money ... and will actually be able to find the plant. It's fun to dream.
In Carol talks about the [guilty] pleasures of mowing the lawn, even on the 25th cutting of the season. Not a PC topic these days, but this Indiana gardener doesn鈥檛 care. Among other reasons, she embraces her inner mower because she likes the exercise, combined with the thinking time that mindless work such as mowing gives you.
If you want to giggle, or at least grin real big, don鈥檛 miss her July 4 post on You Might Be A Garden Geek If鈥� It has links to previous holiday versions, which are all cute, and, for me at least, hit way too close too home!)
Here鈥檚 No. 1 on the Fourth of July You Might Be A Garden Geek If...: When you go to buy fireworks, you are naturally inclined to get those with names like Blue Palm, Morning Glories, or anything that ends in "Fountain."
Our siteseeing time is up for this week. Next Thursday鈥檚 garden sites will all be in Canada. Join us then.
