Georgia Pine Pollen

BY SKEETER

It is Azalea time here in my GEORGIA GARDENS! These two are always the first to bloom for me.

They are a bit early this year but to be expected with all this abnormally warm weather we have been having. The past 8 days have been in the 80's with some record breaking days!

I could not resist picking up a few Geraniums for the bicycle planter. The garden centers are starting to fill up with pretties in our area with this awesome weather.

With this warm weather comes pollen from the tall Georgia Pine Trees. Even though my gardens remain a bit soggy from past rainfall, a nice rainfall would wash out all this yellow mess. Hopefully we will not a repeat as the year I did another posting on Pine Pollen. Click HERE to see that blog. (Note: DO NOT become confused with the contest as this posting was made in 2010.)

A great surprise to me, the Crimson and Clover must have reseeded from last year! Happy day to me as I love this sweet red bloom and the fact that The Saint gave me the seeds  last year.

HAPPY ST. PATRICKS DAY!

The double daffodils are now blooming.

I really do need to get them divided for more throughout the gardens. But even with the time change, there is only so many hours in a day. And with my large garden area to clean, daffy dividing is not high on the priority list.

The double daffodils are so pretty and full. 

I put one of the geraniums in with a Candy Tuft that did fine over winter in this pot.

I have a fern for the stump but it is on the front porch for now. We are expecting one more cold snap and I fear loosing it so I shall wait a bit. The stump is becoming hollow and this may be the last year I can put a Fern on top. I had to place a stone to keep it stable last year.

 I have also been doing a bit of painting. Giving some of the outdoor items a fresh coat of paint such as this little bird bath atop a milk can.

While out in the garden weeding today, I had a little friend. Well, if you look closely, you will see two little friends. Although, the snail is not really a friend of the garden. But I left it alone. Mums are starting to pop up from the ground.

Of course, I had to pick up and talk with the little box turtle though. It was so stinking cute. Just look at that little face. All together now, Awwwwwwww... The last I saw of this little friend, it was burrowing under the mulch of the small lilac bush.

As I called it a day and headed back into the house, I spotted this on the decking around the pool. Looks as though Ghost Footprints but not so. Just my footprints from the GEORGIA PINE POLLEN, In the Garden...

Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team, In the Garden

Master's Mess and a Contest

By Skeeter
The Saint and I decided to go to Virginia to visit with his family during Easter weekend. While there, we went to downtown Washington DC to see the Cherry Blossoms around the Tidal Basin. I snapped over 100 picture's and have yet to weed through them. Here is a sample of what is to come once I sort through them.

All eyes are on us here in Augusta, GA this week due to the Master's Golf Tournament. I showed you a peek into this beautiful Garden Paradise in the past. If you would like to see it, Click HERE for an abundance of Azalea's. And Click HERE for more Masters treasures. And Click HERE to see some of the maintenance of the Masters Grounds. There are 3 things visitors to our city during the Masters never forget.
One; the many Azalea's.
Two; those famous Pimento Cheese Sandwiches.
And Three; Yellow Pollen.

We returned to a big pollen mess after our 4-day get-away. We knew to expect this as we saw the clouds of yellow flying in the air as we headed out of town. I know some of you may have thought I was referring to a mess about a Tiger but that is a mess for another kind of blog and Not a Garden blog. Oh boy, what a mess we had on the front porch! As if it has snowed yellow.
No sitting on the rocking chairs!
Look how deep the pollen is on the truck's hood.
The window is hanging onto pollen like glue.
And the fender is full of the yellow dust! We laugh at visitors washing their automobiles right now. We locals know not to bother until the pollen is gone. Washing is a waste of time as the pollen is back within minutes of a good scrubbing.
The guilty party you ask? Those tall Georgia Pine Trees! We have not had rain as of yet, therefore, everything is covered in a yellow dust of pine pollen. Rain is expected by this evening so hopefully, it will be washed away.
I have only seen it this bad one other time in the 10 years we have lived in Georgia. You can actually see clouds of dust flying off the trees. It looks as though someone is mowing a yellow dirt yard or the smoke of a fire! It IS that bad this year. I am not sure why it is worse some years then others but I suspect the quick 90 degree temperatures we had after such a cold winter, may have brought the trees to life at a quicker rate then normal. We broke 2 record high temps of 93 this past week and were in the upper 80's the remainder of the week. Once this front and rain come through today, we should be back to normal temps of mid 70's. Spring is always fun here in the Deep South as we go from winter straight to Summer at times. I just hope we do not go back to winter as things would be damaged as they are busting out. The Crepe Myrtles and Cypress are showing green and they never show green this soon. On the other hand, the azaleas are late to pop open as are the dogwoods but starting to move along now.
Ah, now here is one yellow we enjoy seeing this time of year! The Carolina Jessamine growing wild along the fence in the back of the Semi-Formal Garden. Soon the Yellow Pollen will be only a memory but for visitors to our city, This is a MASTER'S MESS to remember, In the Garden...

I mentioned on Tuesdays post how it was my 2 year Blogging Anniversary. I have a gift for two lucky Bloggers which comment with us here at In the Garden. I wish I were rich and could bless each of you with a little gift but rich, I am not. Just rich with the joy of gardening. I love Rain gauges and have found one that would look perfect in any garden.
I also found this cute little painted can that I think someone will enjoy.

This contest will be open to all commenter's from Tuesdays (April 06, 2010) post as well as today's (April 08, 2010) post. A name will be drawn from the Saints Magic Hat on Sunday (April 11, 2010) and announced on Tuesday April 13, 2010.

Due to difficulties with Customs at the Post Office, these prizes can only be mailed to a United States Postal Address. All Commenter's are appreciated here at In the Garden and we hope you understand.

Winner must provide their mailing address to Tina at ramseytina5@gmail.com

Thank you to all blogger's and commenter's for another year filled with your knowledge and added to my garden!


Words and Photos Property of In the Garden Blog Team,

In the Garden