Archive for June, 2008

Sunday, June 29, 2008 Country Gardens Magazine

June 30, 2008 at 6:19 am · Filed under In Print ·Tagged

Pete Krumhardt, Helen Yoest, Nick Crow

I was kept very busy this week with three photos shoots for Country Gardens Magazine…Hey Nick and Pete!  They’re hard work, but also so much fun.  We had a blast.  Pete Krumdhart the photographer with his many talents and Nick Crow, the art director with his, well…charm and quick wit made for a great week – oh, yes, and many talents as well…including his ability to whistle the Wizard of Oz’s “If I Only Had a Brain.”

Saturday was my luncheon fundraiser for the JCRA.  It was so wonderful to have friends here even though Thumper and Bambi used my twin beds as a buffet line the evening before.

Bambi – such a cute name for the 1942 Disney family movie.   And oh, such cute names for the baby deer (Bambi) who lost his parents from mean ole hunters and his little bunny friend Thumper.  I often remember the flood of tears I shed when I first saw this movie.

In fact, I have not felt my kids ready to bare the burden of such a heart retching tale.  As such, they have been spared.  Right about now, I am glad for that because they have such happy hopes for the bunnies in my garden and now we have a darling deer – yes a deer.  If they had any more sentiment to pull from, they would only hate me more – mean mommy whose face contorts into something unrecognizable to them when I see the damage.  Do they feel my pain?  No, they defend “nature” and that “I’m killing nature.”  To which I respond, “I haven’t killed anything – YET!”  Even my best friend points out, sarcastically, I might add, “Well, Helen, you DO have wildlife garden.”

Yes, we spotted a deer in our back garden.  Right here, inside the beltline, where we use to only worry mowing our lawn on time, respecting the length of time we had to retrieve our trash cans from the curb, and feeling content to look out the window and seeing a nice home just like ours with 2.5 kids and a minivan parked in every driveway.

With a feel week ahead with James Baggett, Editor of Nature’s Garden and Perennial Magazine is in town with photographer Virginia Weiler.  More to report on that next Sunday.

Sunday evening we had a very heavy rain around 10:00.  Lily and I were snuggling…she had a nap in the afternoon to try to catch up from a sleep over from the night before.  She looks at the rain and says, “It is raining so hard that if we were playing ‘don’t let the rain drops hit you, everybody would loose.’”  Then she kisses my good night and says, “If I die tonight, I want you to know I love you.”  I love the rain and all weather, actually…even the thunder and lightening.  Kids are not so fond of it.  I comfort her that all will be well in the morning, that rain is just apart of the nature we love so much.

Helen Yoest

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Sunday, June 22, 2008 – The Summer Solstice Aftermath

June 22, 2008 at 6:14 pm · Filed under JC Raulston Arboretum ·Tagged

Now as the days get shorter, I begin to feel that familiar melancholy.   While others recognize the summer solstice as the start of summer; I recognize it as a shift in the length of day.  The summer solstice marks my saddest seasonal day.  Conversely, I find the winter solstice (December 21st) my happiest seasonal day when the days begin to lengthen again. 

When I set out to create a new fundraiser for the JC Raulston Arboretum – one that would reach out far and wide to raise awareness and much needed money to help implement the new master plan and to fund the Endowment of Excellence -  I choose to hold it on the summer solstice because of its significance in the growing season. 

In ancient and modern times, the world over celebrates the summer solstice – recognizing this midsummer’s eve as a time to celebrate. This day marks the halfway point from planting to harvesting. After this night, the days will start getting shorter.  For on this night, we want time to stop – we want to hold onto the last long day before the celestial clock makes our days shorter, getting closer each day until the dark days fall upon us again.  It is said that on this day, many mythical goddesses and fairies can be seen.  If ever there was a time to party, it is now. 

Last night we saw celebrations of many kinds all over the state – dozens of parties.  Out came all the magic the solstice generates.  If you believe as your ancestors did, on this one night much will be revealed.  It is a night of love.  It is a night of optimism.  It is all that we make of it.  On this day, it is a night to imagine all that can be. 

 

Dr. J.C. Raulston imagined all that the Arboretum could be.  His legacy lives on with his namesake at NC State University, and now under the direction of Dr. Dennis (Denny) Werner, we have much to do to continue to build upon J.C.’s legacy.  Last night was the beginning of an annual appeal of parties to help fund the Arb.  I am honored by each host who opened their homes and hearts to their friends and neighbors with the purpose of helping the JCRA.

 

To make a financial contribution, your tax-deductible donations may be made to the JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State University, Campus Box 7522, Raleigh, and NC 27695-7522.

 

Helen Yoest

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Sunday, June 7, 2008 6-7-8 Early Dog Day Heatwave

June 8, 2008 at 10:39 am · Filed under Helen's Haven

The temperature rose.  The wind died. The rain stopped.  My fescue lawn has begun to go dormant for the moment.  It is only June, but feels like the dog days of August.  I am ever hopeful that we are having a freak heat wave and this is not a precursor to a long hot summer.

Today Lily and Aster left for Camp Seafarer and Camp Seagull, respectively.  I will miss them in the garden.  With them gone, I will have much more deadheading to do since Lily won’t be around to pick flowers, thus leaving more to die back on the plant.  I will miss overhearing Aster having conversations with his frogs.  He is amazing in the way he can make the sound of a frog and the frog talks back…back and forth they go.

Lucky me, on Monday, I got to tour the Fuquay-Varina gardens that were on tour Saturday and Sunday.  My friend Ging McKay, president of the F-V garden club was my guide.  There were some amazing gardens.  Then I had to race over to the Little Herb House to meet Patrick so we could build a miniature replicate of Lisa Treadaway’s big herb garden for a photo shoot we are doing for Country Gardens at the end of the month.  When I got in the car, I realized I left my lights on and now my battery was dead.  I was late as it was – not allowing myself enough time to see all the gardens,  Ging, calmly gets her jumper cables, jumps my car while at the same time gets her mom to make me a pimento cheese sandwich and with ice cold RC cola for the road.  It was yummy and refreshing too!

The rest of Monday and most of Tuesday was spent working on the mini herb garden.  It was great fun.  Charles Luck Stone donated the stone, Patrick Barkley stalled the stone, and I laid out the herbs in a pattern of an “interesting mix” as expressed by the art director.  Then Lisa gave her final tweaking making for an amazing little herb garden…just the right touch, the touch we needed.

Wednesday was fun in a way.  It was my children’s last day of school for the summer – the faces of comedy and tragedy come to mind.  And it was the Raleigh Garden Clubs end of year luncheon.  I brought chicken salad.  My friend Laura Bromhal came and is planning to join.  So many people asked me for the recipe of my chicken salad, that I broke down and told them I would post it here for everyone to share.

Raleigh’s Best Chicken Salad

Makes about 4 servings; Prep: About 25 minutes from inside the beltline

Ingredients:

Transportation

Cash, check or charge

A good sense of direction

Directions:

From my house on Yelverton Circle:

Left onto Glen Eden Drive

Right onto Glenwood Ave.

Left onto Peace Street

Left onto that little street between the gas station and Wildflower Pizza before you get to Peace College.

Tookie’s Grill is right at the end of this road.

Try the banana pudding while you’re there!

18 Seaboard Ave., Suite 130

Raleigh

919.829.7221

www.tookiesgrill.com

I toured most of the gardens that were open for the JCRA volunteer garden tour.  It was fun running into other volunteersand all the gardens were delightful – despite this wicked heat!

The two Wake Forest gardeners – The Fritz’s and Jayme Bednarczyk (et. al.) – hosting parties for the Summer Solstice Celebration were interviewed by David Leone with Wake Weekly.  I think he was impressed with what he saw and no doubt what he found was not what he expected.  He asked the hosts and me, “Why these gardens?”  I told him because they were “gardens” and not just landscapes.  There is a difference and once I explained it to David, I think he got it.  We will see when the story comes out on Thursday.

Visit www.metronc.com for my story on the Summer Solstice Celebration and Richard and Barbara Urquhart’s garden.  There were a couple of errors in the final copy that I clarified with the editor. For example:

  • J.C. the man used periods in his name; the name of the arboretum does not.  As such, it is Dr. J.C. Raulston and the JC Raulston Arboretum at NC State University.
  • Dr. Werner “conceived ” the idea for a master plan, but his core team lead by Harriet Bellerjeau and Suzanne Edney, “created it.”
  • Eliza Kraft Olander’s mother is a “Kraft” not an Olander.

Somewhere else in this week was a scouting shoot, home owner photo shoot prep, and my mom’s 80th birthday.  I only hope she is living her life like Franky did and can say “I did it my way!”

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Sunday, June 1, 2008 Waterwise Gardening

June 1, 2008 at 9:26 pm · Filed under Helen's Haven ·Tagged

Just in time for a 1st grade school project to collect and write about an insect, Aster spies his first fire fly of the year.  He or is it a she (will know better after the report) is home temporarily in a clear plastic Standard Oyster jar with a crack in the lid for ventilation.

After begging forgiveness from Lily for cutting down the peach tree, Lily helped me pull mint.  Yes, I have mint in my garden and I am often asked why?  It serves its early spring purpose by giving green before the summer perennials emerge.  It is usually manageable after the aggressive late spring pulling.

More rain his week and I can finally fill my new rain harvesters.  Trilling!  I ordered a sign to put on my mailbox to read:

A Waterwise Garden

Watered with Harvested

Rain Water

Being the first of the month, I do my monthly photo journal.  I encourage everyone to do so.  I save the photos per month so I can compare the same timeframe from year to year.  For a large part of my garden…the Red Bed, Herb Garden, and Secret Garden, this is their third year.  As such, this is my year to LEAP.  As the accurate lure goes:  First year they sleep; second year they creep – third year they leap.  With a spring like God intended, cool and wet, everything is looking and doing so well.  Too much so, I will need to do some dividing…purple flag Iris anyone?

Patrick finished re-edging my back beds.  He did a very good job, as usual!  The box have been reset to form an straight line instead of a nook for where the bench once sat.  We also installed a reservoir to re-circulate water for a fountain that will go there.  Now I just have to find a vessel to make a fountain out of.  I love fountains and put them in most of the gardens I design.  Actually, I would put one in every garden, but not all the homeowners want a fountain.

My friend Barb organized a casual week long garden tour of JC Raulston Arboretum’s volunteers’ gardens…volunteers opening their gardens of other volunteers.  It should be fun.  One of the many perks for volunteering at the Arb!

If you get a chance, pick up a copy of Wake Living and 15/501 to see a story about sustainable gardening where they use my garden as the example.  A nice photo of my Butterfly Garden was used as an example of a transition zone.  Also in the feature is my copy of W A T E R W I S E giving useful bits of waterwise gardening tips.

Magnolia grandiflora leaves are busy falling, and falling, and falling.  This is what they do – especially now.  As with nature, we get the good with the bad…they shed their leaves when the bloom of those awesome, sweet smelling, and”I want to eat you up” fantastic blossoms are peaking.

Plants in the garden that are just coming up or just getting started include:

  • Crinums
  • Echinacea
  • Rudbeckia Black-eyed Susan’s
  • Crocosmia

Plants in the garden that are waxing include:

  • Brown Turkey Fig – full of fruit.
  • Buddleia Butterfly bushes
  • Various Daylilies
  • Spice Bush (both Lindera spp. and Lindera spp.)  These were a gift from the JCRA and make a nice addition to my garden because they are the host plant to Spicebush Swallowtail
  • Cleome
  • Bee Balm – some blooming
  • Autumn sedum – really should pinch back

Plants in the garden that are peaking include:

  • Stella de ‘Ore Daylily
  • Big weedy looking herb from Lisa Treadaway?
  • Honey Comb Buddleia
  • Mints
  • Sedums
  • Lambs ear
  • Salvias – hot lips, blue
  • Milk weed
  • Big purple Oxalis
  • Begonia – perennial
  • Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens ??
  • Hydrangeas – all in flower forming nicely.  Oakleaf, Lady in Red, Lime Light, Endless Summer, Nikko blue
  • Pink Phlox in the mixed border
  • Arisaema tripihyllum Jack in the Pulpit
  • Climbing fig
  • Hostas
  • Magnolia Grandiflora
  • Verbena on a Stick
  • Amaryllis
  • Santolina
  • Clematis – added a new trellis to support it – purple
  • French Lavendar
  • Feather leafed Lavendar
  • Passiflora Incarnata
  • Verbena ‘Homestead Purple’
  • Yellow, pink and red Yarrows
  • Lavandula stoechas Spanish Lavender
  • Salvia macrophylla ‘Hot Lips’
  • Red stemmed dogwood

Plants in the garden that are waning include:

  • Columbine
  • Foxglove
  • Brunnera macrophylla ‘Jack Frost’
  • Confederate Jessamine
  • German Bearded Iris, purple and yellow
  • Siberian Iris (blue spp.?)
  • Dwarf Iris cristata
  • Bottle Bush
  • Tradescantia (spp.?) – a volunteer
  • Spanish Lavender
  • Grecian Foxglove
  • Foxglove
  • Hardy Orchid
  • Chrysogonum virginianum green and gold ‘Allen Bush’
  • Campanula (spp?) – a white variety given to me by Annette Hunt from New Bern whose garden will be in Better Homes and Gardens 2010
  • Herbaceous peonies (spp?)
  • Achillea yellow yarrow (spp?)
  • Rhodos in a container garden

Roses in bloom besides the

  • Stairway to Heaven
  • Pink Double Knock Rose
  • Honey perfume
  • Bride’s Dream
  • Europea
  • French Lace
  • Iceberg
  • Fragrant Wave
  • Julie Child
  • Pristine
  • Sweet Valentine
  • Pink Peace
  • Rainbow Sherbet
  • Black Cherry
  • Don Juan
  • 7 sisters’ rose

What the bunnies are eating: most everything they like…they have the run of the garden.  I am not happy.  My kids think I am behaving nicely…good thing they can’t read my mind.

Helen Yoest (Philbrook)

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