Mountain Valley Park

The Master Gardeners took on a project to create a pocket of beauty on the square in Hayesville.

This long-neglected space between buildings was to be transformed into a lovely spot to take a break and smell the flowers.

The first step was to develop a plan. A number of gardeners drew up plans that were submitted to the group for their consideration.

Another important ingredient was a mural for the back wall to be painted by the high school art group. The mural depicts mountains, water, and flowers - all typical of our area.

The landscape plan reflects the ideas of many gardeners and includes fixtures such as a pergola, a screening fence, two trellises, several birdhouses on posts, and three benches (not shown) - all providing the backbone of the plan. Shrubs and perennials are being added as the other elements are installed.


Watch for updates on this project.

August Bounty

 

Yellow tomatoes, peas, cucumbers, eggplant, beets, peppers all bound for the food pantry.

 The green pumpkin will remain in the pumpkin patch for now.

Autumn Planning

Hydrangea paniculata

The ideal planting time for shrubs, trees, and perennials is just around the corner.  Fall planting allows for strong root growth before a winter siesta and the growing season of spring.  It’s a chance to give plants a head start before the stress of summer strangleholds their very existence. 

Now is the time to begin planning.  A walk through Lewis Nursery or the Garden Shoppe is one way to be inspired, but another is to look around at what is surviving well in commercial landscapes.  These are the very spots that do not get the pampered watering and fertilizing that the home landscaper can do.  Plants have to be tough to survive 100˚ heat and three weeks without rain!  I’ve noticed a few that really stand out.

The first is hydrangea paniculata ‘Limelight’.  You can see this growing near the new Aztex/ McDonald’s at the corner of 64 and 69.  What is most striking is how beautiful the plant looks no matter how hot it gets.  Its white flowers (with a slight green tint) sit perkily while the rest of us wilt and sweat.  I like the whole crowd of paniculatas:  ‘Tardiva’ is very reliable and ‘PinkyWinky’ has almost red flowers, to name just a couple.  They don’t droop as most mophead hydrangeas do in the heat of summer and they bloom now into fall—a good time for the garden.  They like sun and can become large, but you wield the pruning shears.

Another plant near McDonald’s is Ninebark (physocarpus opulifolious).  I am not sure the variety.  It could be ‘Diablo’, but it is behaving like the beautiful ‘Summer Wine’ I have in my garden.  This plant flowers delightfully in the spring, but its crowning glory is the deeply cut, dark crimson-red leaves that glow in the sunlight throughout the summer.  It’s a beautiful plant to jazz up a boring green border. 

The third planting near this intersection is the group of trees in front of the Nantahala Bank that were placed by the Department of Transportation.  I realize they are not much to look at now, just pretty little shade trees, but come this winter they will sport a crown of red berries almost all season (the birds do eventually have their way with them!)  I was so struck by their attractiveness that I called the DOT for information which is when I discovered there is a whole DOT landscape department!  The horticulturist identified them as Crataegus viridis ‘Winter King’. This cultivar is one of the best hawthornes for landscape purposes.  It is a smallish (25–30 ft.) deciduous tree that blooms in May, has dark red autumn foliage, and red fruit all winter.  In older trees the bark also exfoliates which adds to its winter interest.

Well, here’s to your autumn dreaming.  At least there’s one good thing we can say about this heat--you can’t plant shrubs and trees!

Eleanor Moyer

Pea Pickin' Time

Judy's peas are hanging over the fence begging to be picked.

Late July Harvest

Cucumbers, squash, eggplants, jalapeno peppers, and herbs are ready to travel to the food pantry.

 The cucumber patch is still full of little yellow flowers - many more cucumbers to come!

Collard Greens

While growing up in Michigan I had never heard of collards, nor would have cared for them if I had. Upon moving to Georgia I gradually became aware of them but not because I ate them. I avoided green things like that for a long time. I knew I would not like them.

Years ago, while we were on a family vacation at St. Simons Island, Georgia, I awoke one morning feeling slightly ill. The feeling hadn't improved by the time we went to lunch at a small restaurant close to the fishing pier. I have forgotten what else I ate, if anything, but I saw collards on the menu. Somehow I thought, "I'm going to try these things. They'll either kill me or cure me."

I wound up eating two bowls of collards, have loved them ever since, and have grown them in my garden whenever I could.  

Last spring I planted two rows. (The garden had been fertilized with a good dose of mushroom compost, which I had learned about after becoming a Clay County Master Gardener.)

We had collards last year beginning around June and lasting through the fall. I always harvest them by cutting a few leaves from each plant rather than taking the whole thing. That way they just keep on producing.

Because of the "aroma", I boil them outside, with a couple of strips of bacon, in a big pot on a propane camp stove for about two hours. By that time they are tender and ready to eat. We freeze what is not needed immediately.

Normally, at the end of the season, I dig them up. However last winter I decided to let them stay in the ground. I had always heard that they were better after a frost and had noticed that they would survive each bout of freezing weather and then bounce right back and grow some more, so I cooked collards in the fall, winter and spring.

Along about March they started to really get tall and put on bright yellow blooms. I decided to let them grow to see what would happen. I could still harvest leaves as needed but the plants kept getting taller, four to six feet tall. Then a tremendous number of very long thin green pods appeared on each plant - new experience. I let them continue until the middle of May when I figured it was time for them to go to the burn pile. There was more stalk than leaf.

After digging them I left them on the burn pile to dry. The pods were still green when I uprooted the plants, but while lying on the burn pile they dried and almost split open. The outcome was that I got a tremendous supply of collard seed. All I had to do was shake the plant while holding a container under it to get a wonderful harvest. Considering the amount of seeds in the normal packet, I may have enough for every garden in the county. 

If you're a gardener, there's always something new to learn.

Jack Parrish, Master Gardener

Bounty & Beauty

It is a joy to watch Louise's community garden plot. She has been growing several kinds of sunflowers and zinnias to adorn her garden shop in town.