By Country - New Zealand

Wow! Do the weeks go by fast or what Here it is again, time to discuss another favorite plant. This week I wanted to focus on two plants of the genus Correa . Have you heard of it If not, probably because it blooms in the (non-shopping season of) winter and is marginally winter-hardy here in the Pacific Northwest. Ooh, but look at those flowers! Correa Dusky Bells Starting in September, a succession of pretty pink or white (depending on species) two-inch bells hang from st...

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Can we say Sarcococca ruscifolia five times real fast Or at all It took me awhile. (Sar kuh koh kuh roo sih foh leah yuh). Or you could just say Sweet Box but wheres the fun in that I wont go into the plethora of reasons why botanical Latin is critical to proper plant identification but will suffice it to say, if youre a serious gardener, you should strive to embrace it, despite its esoteric nature, pun intended. Sarcococca is a winter blooming, perfuming machine! A few ...

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Happy New Year! First, I need to apologize. For years I would be alerted via email to new comments on this and my other blog. At some point this helpful feature disappeared. I dont check as often as I should and this time I missed a bunch of you. Im very sorry. Your feedback is the highlight of this endeavor so thank you. Ill do better this year. With the new year comes a change in my format. Each week Im going to focus on one plant. Ill share photos and pro...

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Im afraid its going to be one of those winters--cold and foggy. I havent counted but I bet weve had at least twenty foggy days since October and it isnt even winter yet. Weve had several frosts, none below about 25 degrees though so it could be worse and I shouldnt complain. One of the ways I can tell how cold its gotten is by the looks of my hardy banana. Id say it could and probably will get colder before spring. Musa basjoo (Hardy Banana) Yes, the gard...

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Despite the definite change in weather, the garden is still doing quite well. We havent had a frost yet so even plants like dahlia and fuchsia are putting out blooms. Not only that but as I putter and visualize next years garden, I can hear frogs croaking back and forth to each other at random intervals. If the temperatures remain mild (in the 50s) Ill continue to be enchanted by them. I was surprised to see buds forming all up and down my winter-blooming Freckles Clematis. ...

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With nurseries having their fall sales, last week I decided it was high time for a visit to Dancing Oaks Nursery . Given that it is at most a half hour drive, I dont know why I dont go more often. So I made up for lost time. After my first visit I went again a few days later with my friend Heather from Eugene. I took more photos on the first visit because the weather was better that day. If youve been to Dancing Oaks you know that the final stretch is a two-mile gravel drive across a...

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It was a really busy August, especially the second half and now, here it is almost the second half of September! I didnt mean to stay away so long. My garden is a mess and today was the day I was finally going to get some serious work done. But no. Its raining, darn it. Such a weird summer. No long stretches of sunshine like we typically get from July through September. Fortunately with the cooler temperatures the flowers lasted longer and who knows, maybe I saved a few bucks on t...

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