Category: Gardening in SC

A Cold Thursday

We are having a period of freezing weather that meant I had to cover my camellias again yesterday and drip water last night. Kalanchoe and the thriving geranium came back inside yesterday. There will be two more nights of this freezing weather here, with tonight being the coldest.

We were getting spoiled with some beautiful sunny and warmer days. The grass was starting to turn green. But, it IS February, and back in Maine, those folks are getting a lot of snow.

Kalanchoe’s floral gifts are still madly ongoing. She’s a crazy lady, for sure. And she brightens up every space she occupies.

Son Bryan covered his camellias with our last freezing spell and was rewarded with these beauties last week.

Camellias have the prettiest foliage too. The leaves are so glossy, green, and sturdy looking. His white one hadn’t opened yet, and I am now coveting a white camellia. That plant is full of buds.

I mounted another block on stretched canvas on Tuesday. It’s 10 by 10. I wanted to play with the Cat’s Cradle ruler. The block size here is 2.5 inches, but this ruler goes up to 4 inches and down to 1.5 inches. Yikes that little one would be…little. I think there is a bigger ruler for this block available now. Hmmm…

I’ve never seen a line of diagonal little squares that I didn’t like, and I wanted to play with that arrangement. Now I’m making 4-inch blocks from scraps–as a scrap buster project–as I have a lot of smaller scraps I can use.

I figured out what to do next with the 4th and final quilt for my half-rectangle triangle series project–made with Latifah Saafir’s Hurty ruler. I’m excited. This quilt is…bold.

The online sew-along project (Scrap Cabin) from Rachel Hauser’s blog Stitched in Color is done and needs to go on the longarm. Yesterday was Patchwork Gals meeting, and we heard about a new apartment project that will house homeless first responders (fire) and vets. I’ll be donating this quilt to those new occupants. The building will be finished in 2026, and the goal for area quilters is to provide 90 quilts, one for each bed.

This project is ongoing in other cities around the United States. And I’m so glad people are doing something about this homeless situation for our fire and soldier veterans. I sure hope it works to help them get restarted with their lives.

Design Wall Projects and Other Tidbits

First, the taller camellia (a birthday gift from my son and DIL) is BLOOMING! Five or six buds survived a fall drought and the freezing temps we had this winter. (Nationwide, this winter is the coldest on record since 1988.)

This bud was small and partially damaged, and I can’t wait to see some of the bigger buds open up. Isn’t it gorgeous? I think it is gorgeous, and I’m going to add 2 more camellias to my garden this spring by removing two gardenias that are so not thriving. The smaller, lower spreading camellia on the other side of the house turned to blooms in the late fall and only now quit opening up buds. It is a deep pink.

The top of my “Scrap Cabin” quilt is done. Thanks Rachel Hauser (Stitched in Color) for this pattern and for the online sewalong in January. Note: Rachel is going to have another sewalong in March if you want to check out her blog. Her new sewalong is a pretty quilt, and there is a nice learning method involved.

This “Scrap Cabin” quilt has chewed up a LOT of scrap fabrics, which was the point. And next time, I’ll not use the lighter greys in the neutral areas of the center as they dumb down the white areas, which are more flamboyant if kept to the white/light family.

Also, I made dumb mistakes while making that fabulous border. Each individual block unit measured properly, but the some border lengths were too long, and the outer edges were too big for the sewn edge. I knew the center was square. Anyway, I was sewing early evening, wanted to finish this top and didn’t measure the length of each border strip against the center before sewing. NO NO NO. I do know better. When I put the finished top back on the design wall, the borders were rippling in places along the edges and the quilt wouldn’t lie flat as one border in particular had to be eased in too much. Ugh! I was able to fix the problem with another long session of fixing the too-long border and tightening up the edge sewing. So I didn’t have to take off all the borders and start over. I know I got out of that mess lightly. MEASURE A BORDER AGAINST THE QUILT BEFORE SEWING.

Here is a link to Rachel’s finished top below so you can both admire it and see what I mean about these neutrals.

https://open.substack.com/pub/stitchedincolor/p/scrap-cabin?r=a3dgf&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false

My little hand-sewn improv blocks–which I installed into an improv quilt top with my domestic machine–is on the longarm. It’s not large–a small lap size–so this project will finish fast. And it is…cute. I love improv projects. And as you must know if you read this blog at all, I love hand sewing at night.

Waiting in the wings is Month 5 of Tara Faughnan’s online Blocks2 class. The ironed fabrics and all the templates are just…waiting. And the 4th and last quilt in my half-rectangle triangle series is waiting to be finished. And I’ve been making some blocks from Annabelle Wrigley’s “Prickley Pear” quilt pattern to try the alternative setting. I don’t know where this one is going–and maybe not far at all. Maybe, only to the stretched canvas frames. Maybe the trash can, LOL.

Have a great week everyone!

Another Snow Day

The water pipes are fine today, but we will have two more really cold nights, so I will drip water again tonight.

One of the “joys” yesterday was seeing the children in the snow, yes, but also the parents.

Out came golf carts to pull children on whatever worked–like the very thin boards that can skim retreating shallow waves at the beach. But there was a wide array of finding “whatever works.” And neighborhood dads participated in making sure lots of children had a try.

The local streets are still rutted with frozen ice where there was some melting and than refreezing. I wouldn’t take my car out on a bet, given that most folks here have no experience driving on ice.

This morning the detritus from all of yesterday’s play reminds us of all the fun in the snow. Most of our children were out all day, despite the cold. Whatever cold be used for snow play…was. Like these beach or tub toys.

My three youngest grands are still hard at it. The last video was them coming down a hill (hills are rare in this coastal plain) on single skis. It’s time for them to go to a ski resort I think.

And meanwhile, here’s another bit of joy from me:

Kalanchoe is now in full bloom!

And I have all four of my Wayward Arc projects finished. I so enjoyed hand stitching them.

I’m keeping the one on the upper left–it will go in my quilt room.

Sunday Update

Good morning all!

We are bracing for what gets called “really cold” here in SC. And we have gotten some much-needed rain. When it dries up a little today, I’m going to cover the camellias with tarps–which will stay on for the next three nights/days.

I’ve been enjoying quiet weeks and lots of sewing time. Here are my four blocks for this month’s online “Blocks2” class with Tara Faughnan–called this month “Wayward Arcs.” Tara always has a “curves” block project for one of our 6 monthly blocks with which to play. These are all improv and freehand cut–except to square them off.

I’m hand-quilting these four to add more texture and two are done and ready to be put on my 10-inch stretched canvases.

Here is where I am with Rachel Hauser’s sew-along scrappy log cabin.

Yes, this project is chewing up my stored cut strips. Yeah!!! Of course I’m still moving around blocks as I complete one. These blocks finish at 18 inches.

I’ve never seen anything as brilliant and special as the corner block arrangement Rachel Hauser gave us–to finish off the very lacey border she designed. Of course I had to make one.

And here’s how it will work with the rest of her border units. These are “tricky” to make–as they are cut and sewn on a 45 degree diagonal line. But they are WORTH the trouble.

Here are the colors up next:

And!! Oh my goodness! Look at the Kalanchoe plant! I brought her inside–actually there are 3 plants here–a gift from my neighbor on my birthday last year. I repotted them at some point, and in the fall tiny buds started appearing. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.

Have a good week everyone!

The Kalanchoe Plants

My neighbor, who moved here from California, gave me a small pot of Kalanchoe plants on my birthday in March last year. The flower heads were enormous and so colorful–the heads were made up of composite flowers all grouped together. There were three separate plants in the pot.

Kalanchoe are succulents, and they thrive in California. I knew nothing about them, as I had spent almost 20 years in Maine. The flowering heads stayed blooming for weeks and weeks before stopping.

Then, the plants started to…grow. So I repotted them sometime last summer.

Now look!

They are covered with blooms that are about to color up. They are little, not the big heads, but… How exciting!

This plant doesn’t like temps below 45 degrees, so I’m keeping a close eye on how cold it is getting at night. I will bring this big pot inside if temps drop into the high 40s.

When my neighbor comes over–often using the porch entrance–she stops to pet this plant and to exclaim over its size. It reminds her of California, of course.

Look What’s Blooming!

My FIRST camellia ever!

My Georgia grandmother grew them, but I’ve never lived where this plant survives winter.

It’s ADORABLE!

This one will grow low and wide.

(And the bigger one on the other side of the house–gifted by my son Bryan and DIL Corinne for my birthday last March–is full of buds as well.)

I’ll be replacing the two struggling gardenias with camellias next spring.

It’s Friday!

I spent HOURS yesterday watering plants and grass. It is so dry. My grass was trying to die–and this centipede grass is a water hog, for sure. It makes a mat like a rug that is 2 or more inches deep. My neighbors who have irrigation systems have grass that isn’t showing stress and browning, so I knew that mine browning was not due to fall/winter, but due to lack of water. So…watering had to happen. (My new little sprinklers are really helping as they have so many different, reliable settings that let me direct water to exactly where I want it to go.)

Here’s the last piece I’ll piece for this month’s “Hourglass” block in Tara Faughnan’s “Block 2” online class. I pretty much used up all the remaining blocks I had made and the scraps I had cut from this palette. (I just finished quilting the second half-rectangle triangle piece I did–the bright one. So now it needs facing or a binding.)

How fun is this? I’ll hand quilt it in some sort of incoherent wacky way to highlight the improv nature of this block. I also have a stack of potholders to sew–where I played with improv arrangements with this block. They’re fun. Pics when they are all done.

“Pot Pourri 4” is washed and ready to mail to a niece with a new baby girl. I like to hang a recently washed quilt over the sofa back to make sure all the moisture drys out before I mail it. And I’ll mail on Monday as I don’t like my quilts traveling on weekends.

I’ve grown very attached to this quilt–it is so lively and fun.

It is just a great scrappy quilt.

The Charleston Modern Quilt Group met this week. As always, the Show and Tell quilts were awesome. They are on that group’s open web site if you want to see more. But here is the latest from Cathy Beemer–another amazing quilt top.

I thought I was done piecing “Diamonds,” part 2 of my series with half-rectangle blocks. BUT, I realized I needed one more row as the width was 72, as planned, but the math escaped me for the length, which was only 64 inches!!! I put the top back on the design wall and thought about the issue for two days–and woke up yesterday with the best solution to extend the quilt. Yeah!!! Taking apart one row to add another inside the top was needed, and that is now done. I’m working on filling in that row. Our brains are amazing. Give them a problem to solve and give them time to solve it.

Have a great weekend folks!

Bits and Pieces, October 2nd

Hello October!

I bought my Halloween candy yesterday at Costco–which was totally jammed by people filling their carts to the brim. I guess I should have bought toilet paper. The final checkout man said the swarm was due to the dock strike AND people buying goods to donate to those in need after the hurricane. Heavens Knows there are LOTS of very needy hurricane survivors.

These dwarf Mexican petunia plants I planted last year are an unqualified success. They bloom for all but the coldest weather and are gradually filling in the areas that need filling in–like where I took out some Mondo grass on the driveway end of this bed.

Look at this gorgeous color–and this plant is VERY hearty.

These petunias come in white and pink too–a light pink. Every now and then one of these purple plants throws out a white or pink plant, so I dig it out and plant it elsewhere. Now I’m trying two of these offsprings in the big blue container on the screened porch that has struggled to grow…anything. The sun hits it directly in the afternoon.

The Mexican sage is, again, dancing in the wind. This plant, too, is new to me. It is especially fun to see through the tv room windows. It may be struggling with a bit of wet roots, due to the 24 inches of rain we got a while back. Three storms ago, was it? Or it is just turning leaves as it is cooler now and the light is different.

Look at these buds on the new camellia I planted last spring. Holy Moly! I can’t wait to see it bloom this winter. The other camellia, gift of Bryan and Corinne for my birthday last March, is on the other side of the house. It’s got buds too, but nothing like this little guy. The gift camellia is a different type of camellia and will be taller and much wider. This one in the picture will be lower and will spread sideways.

This beautiful White Heron (A Great Egret) let me take a good picture the other day while walking. S/he stood, not moving a muscle. I think creatures can sometimes tell if you pose a danger. (Note the black legs.)

Well, this is a fun project, highlighted in the weekly newsletter I get from Aurifil threads. It’s a leaf shaped potholder.

It’s made by Amira Ameruddin, known as amira_little mushroom cap on Instagram. She has a video showing how she made it.

I’ll be making one. For sure. I have…scraps.

A Hitchhiker

I went out mid morning to water the roses and plants on the sunny side of the house as we have not had rain for some days now, and my phone chirped that the doorbell just rang.

The Drift roses I ordered had arrived, a day earlier than expected. The BIG tall boxes (about 3 feet tall) were on the front porch. But I was ready with sand and compost and set in to plant the roses immediately.

The roses were beautifully packaged, and the plants were so healthy and pretty. Each rose pot was covered with a plastic bag to conserve water, and there was packing around the top of each pot to keep the dirt inside. Plus, the plants had bamboo stakes set into the pots to keep the box from collapsing around them. (Please note that I tried my best for weeks to find these plants locally.)

The only problem I discovered was that the nursery sent White Drifts, not Popcorn Drifts. Both are white, so I shrugged and started planting. By noon I was dripping wet with sweat, hot, exhausted, and so dirty I hesitated to even come into my house. Each of the holes formerly occupied by the Encore azaleas that went to son Bryan’s shade had to be dug much deeper and wider and lined with the sand and compost.

The clay! The clay! It was just solid clay. And interestingly, the clay was damp, not dry, but we’ve not had rain in some days, so that’s the “bathtub” effect that was likely also impacting the Encores–along with the heat. Holes in clay like I have here creates a bowl that will hold water that will rot plant roots, especially after a lot of rain. So the holes for a plant have to be big and filled with sand to help at least a little with the drainage. Even too much compost can sit in the water and rot the roots.

One of my neighbors is Chinese, and her mother does not speak a word of English, except for counting 1 to 5 on her hands. She is a love, however, and often gives me big greetings, big hugs, and sometimes walks with me. At some point she came over with a broom and swept up all the planting dirt and debris on the driveway.

When I went to water the first rose planted, on the far right, a big frog hopped out of the middle of the plant and ran for cover in the liriope stand on the other side of the sidewalk. It was a hitchhiker from the Florida nursery who had nestled down in the center of the plant beneath the paper wound around the plant’s stem to keep the dirt in its pot.

Welcome Hitchhiker!

There are bugs here for you to eat!

Here’s the hitchhiker’s plant:

These Drifts will spread out and repeatedly bloom for much of the year, stopping only in the colder winter months.

So, one problem solved, and for today, there are no outside jobs to do.

A Happy Crepe Myrtle

Remember when this sweet tree got planted last year?

Look at it now. It’s bigger and loaded with blooms.

Yep, it’s thriving. And look at the lush grass. It’s deep and thick and is like walking on a shag rug that is 3 inches thick, which I do often with bare feet. I hand weeded for emerging weeds the first year, but this year there are no weeds.

The “Encore” plants in the front, however, are NOT thriving. It’s too sunny and hot for them in that place. “Encores” are a cross between azaleas and rhododendrons–neither of which is happy with too much sun–though claims are made that the Encores are “sun tolerant.” Remember that I planted them last year and moved the struggling azaleas in that bed to the shady side of the house–where they are thriving. Encores will bloom off and on all summer and fall.

My neighbor’s Encores get a lot of afternoon sun and are thriving. But the front of my house gets the full impact of the summer sun well into mid-afternoon. And clearly, Encores do NOT work there. I have no space to move them to shadier sites in the garden, so they are going to go to Bryan and Corinne as soon as I dig them out. One has already died.

Eventually the Crepe Myrtle will provide more shade, but not for a few years. I’m going to replant with the “Drift” landscape roses like the little “Popcorn” rose I planted earlier in the summer. It is thriving in the hot sun in the back of the house. I’d like to get more of the “Popcorn” version, and Hidden Pond Nursery is going to try to order 5 of them for me. Otherwise, maybe the “Apricot” Drift rose that is known for its fragrance. Hidden Pond does carry the drift roses, so eventually I’ll get some that will work for me.

Drift roses are low to the ground and spread. They will be perfect for the front. Here’s a picture of my “Popcorn” rose in the back, surrounded by white perennial Lantana, which is also thriving. Drifts rebloom on a regular basis, and one does not have to deadhead them, but I do. And deheading is needed right now. But you can see all the new growth. The blooms open white and then start to turn a pale yellow at the centers. I love the name “Popcorn” for them.

And while I was outside with my phone, I took a picture of the “Limelight” hydrangea I planted last year. It, too, is thriving.

How fun is that?

(The herb garden is to the right of the “Limelight,” and that’s Rosemary growing tall. I almost lost it to a sucker fly insect in the early spring and used Neem oil and soap and water sprayed several times a day to stop them.)

Gardening is a practice of wins and losses. The wins are more fun.