Girlfriends and Girdles

August 2, 2013August 2, 2013 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

I know it isn’t polite to talk about girdles in mixed company (I’m originally from the south and am aware that this could cause swooning) but, before you swoon, let’s take a look at the burlap girdles that my friends, Carol and Kerrie, designed.

The Friends

Chris (The Redneck Rosarian, Carol, Me, Kerrie and Mimi! — Chris (The Redneck Rosarian), Carol, Me, Kerrie and Mimi!

I have been cyber friends with Carol and Kerrie for about 3 years and have learned so much from them about seeds. You can learn from them too just follow them on Twitter and Facebook.

This spring I had the great pleasure of spending some time with them at Garden 2 Blog at P Allen Smith Garden Retreat. We had a blast!

This fun loving duo have come up with all kind of things to make gardening a whole lot easier and more fun! Please don’t miss the seed keeper boots in the pic above. Gotta love those!

The Girdles

Back to the girdles … I am so in love with these girdles (grow bags). They are light weight, come in 3 sizes, are easy to store, easy on the budget and look fabulous in my natural setting.

Most of you know how crazy I am about burlap and twine, so you are not surprised that I love these. Here’s how they look on one of my potting benches…

For more about the burlap girdles, read on.

The Seed Keeper Project

I am also very impressed with their Seed Keeper Project where they recognize school gardens across the country and award a Seed Keeper Home Farmer and a Certificate to a school in every state highlighting their dedication to gardening. Read more.

The Seed Keepers

“Never hunt for your seeds again.” If you collect seeds and want to keep them organized, you need one of Carol and Kerrie’s Seed Keepers. They come in 3 sizes and they also come with all kinds of stuff that makes seeding keeping so much easier like dividers, plant markers, seed saving envelopes and more.

I actually have two of the deluxe models and fill them to the brim! Take a look…

All my seeds can be alphabetical and organized. I just love it!

The Boots

Okay I have to share just one more picture of THE boots …

Adorable!

A Rose A Day: Red Drift

June 22, 2013June 22, 2013 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

We are more than 1/2 way through June — summer is here and she came in with some intense heat in my neck of the woods. I was up early doing some trimming and general gardening but am glad to come into the air conditioning to continue my celebration of National Rose Month by sharing another rose with you.

Next up is Red Drift. I love the entire line of Drift Roses from Star Roses and Plants but today I am excited to talk about Red Drift — fits well into our National Rose celebration with it’s bright patriotic red color!

This picture tells the whole story of what you can expect from this rose all summer. It is always in bloom!

Here’s a shot of one of my rose borders… Red Drift is showing off even when the roses behind her are taking a break.

Here’s what Star Roses & Plants has to say about Drift roses….

Drift® Roses are a cross between full-size groundcover roses and miniatures. From the groundcovers they kept their toughness, disease resistance and winter hardiness. From the miniatures, they inherited their well-managed size and repeat-blooming nature.

Garden 2 Blog 2012

One of the highlights of Garden 2 Blog (and there were legion) was getting to meet our good friends from Star Roses & Plants–Kajsa Haracz, Jacques Ferare & Kyle McKean.

P Allen Smith has many Drift roses on Moss Mountain, so I was able to see varieties I had never seen before. One of those was Coral Drift. OOH LA LA. Lucky for me, our local IGC, Country Harmony, had Coral Drift, so I am now the proud owner of 2 of those. But, I’ll show you those beauties another day.

Isn’t his garden just amazing…

P Allen Smith's Rose Garden — P Allen Smith’s Rose Garden

In My Garden…

I have 5 Red Drifts in my garden and they are about 18″ high and about 2′ wide. They keep my rose border alive with bloom from early spring to fall. Another bonus for me is these roses compliment other flowers and roses whether in the ground or in a vase. I love to add them to arrangements! Even though I only have 5, there are plenty of blooms to share! The blooms are in sprays which add great interest to vased arrangements.

These blooming machines are extremely disease resistant and a true joy in my cottage garden. All I do is give them a little fertilizer and they are good to go!

If you don’t have any of these beauties in your garden–I highly recommend you add them. Even if space is an issue for you, they will fit nicely into a container or any nook or cranny and give you season long beauty!

Tomorrow…

Tomorrow I think I’ll share a rose with you that helped get me in the winner’s circle.

And then there were the chickens…

May 17, 2013November 19, 2013 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

Just like the roses, you can’t be at Moss Mountain without falling in love with another one of P. Allen Smith’s passions–chickens. It was particularly easy for me to do since I had a pet Batam hen as a child.

Allen too, started early with his love of poultry when at the age of he 10 years he proudly showed a white silkie hen in the county fair and took home the blue ribbon!

Meet Amos…

Whether official or not, Amos is on the welcoming committee at Moss Mountain. All the Garden 2 Blog team fell in love with him and chased him around with our cameras. He must have felt like the paparazzi had converged.

Amos ... Buff Orpington — Amos … Buff Orpington

Amos is a Buff Orpington … a gentle English breed from the 19th Century. See how they live at Moss Mountain. Video.

Meet the Silkies…

Allen told us that Silkies are sort of the lap dogs of the chicken world. C U T E! The White Silkies on Moss Mountain live in this adorable Greek Revival Coop.

Silkies living in style... — Silkies living in style…

Thinking about adding chickens to your world?

For a list of breeds to consider, read on.

And, you’ll need a coop … so check this out.

Heritage Poultry Conservancy

A group that Allen is very involved with is the The Heritage Poultry Conversancy … an excellent organization dedicated to the preservation and support of all threatened breeds and strains of poultry through the encouragement of education stewardship and good breeding practices. Read more.

This Picture Says it All…

459925_3164587649034_1611856749_o — Steve and Caesar… Love at first hold.

My good friend, artist and writer, Steve Asbell of the Rain Forest Garden had his first experience of holding a chicken at Moss Mountain. Caesar looks very confident in Steve’s arms wouldn’t you say? Love at first hold!

Another article you might enjoy…

Beautiful and Sustainable

May 12, 2013November 7, 2015 | Teresa / TheGardenDiary.com

While I was at P. Allen Smith’s Moss Mountain Farm for Garden 2 Blog, I was surrounded by beautiful and sustainable roses. This garden of thousands is a no-spray garden…

“If it doesn’t look good, we pitch it and plant something else.” -P Allen Smith

From the delicately fragrant Noisettes to the spectacular bloom of the Knockouts, Drifts and many other varieties both old and new, Moss Mountain is alive with the beauty and fragrance of roses. This amazing garden gets your attention with it’s size, but then draws you to come, slow down, relax, stroll……

Though Allen has always loved roses, it was while doing his graduate work in England that the rose love deepened. Allen became friends with Lady Elizabeth Ashbrook who grew beautiful roses. Upon his return from England he planted more and more roses that led to what you see above … a two acre garden reminiscent of the Gothic style found in Aiken-Rhett House garden in Charleston, SC.

EVERY NOOK AND CRANNY

But, roses are not just in the rose garden, in fact, you can’t walk very far either at his home in the historical district of Little Rock or at his farm, until you see more beautiful roses. Roses have found their way into most every “room” of the farm. Well, maybe not in Poultryville, but that is another post. Psssst… I fell in love with chickens and well–just might have to have some. Especially the Buff Orpingtons. For an article from Allen on how to raise backyard chickens, read on.

Okay, okay back to roses. Look at these beauties…

BUILDING THE ROSE GARDEN

To hear Allen tell the fascinating story on the building of the garden, watch this…

THE ROSE REPUTATION

Many people say to me that they think all roses are prima donnas that need constant spray and attention. This garden proves otherwise. Sure, roses do need sun, food and water to survive and a little love and attention to thrive, but don’t we all. And, wow … aren’t they worth it!

If you have been reluctant to give roses a try, come on you can do it. I promise! Let Allen’s beautiful AND sustainable garden inspire you.