What do you mean that won’t grow here?

We raised our children in Cincinnati OH, so I learned to garden in the Midwest.  At our very first home I gleefully with wild abandon (just call me Earth Momma) planted Canna lilies, Elephant Ears, and Gladiolus.  I thought if my mom could grow them in her western NC garden success would be mine. Then my mother-in-law broke the news to me…. “Wow, you do know you have to dig all that up this fall?” As soon as she left, I walked around my garden and told the plants I have good news and bad news….The  good news is you all look fabulous the bad news is you are all going to die. 

It didn’t take long thanks to gardening books, my mother-in-law, and her gardening pals to fill our yard with peonies, iris, roses, sweet Williams, and a host of annuals like red salvia and sweet alyssum and periwinkles.  I moved the iris with me to every home we have had.

My Husband and I moved to coastal NC three years ago. We are about half an hour from north Myrtle Beach.  It is wonderful!  It’s sunny with just the right amount of heat and of course humidity (gives your skin that youthful dewy look).  Gardening is different here.  Most of my yard is sand with one side oddly red clay.  It is like the builder had them bring in this load of clay just for that side of the yard.  There is a sprinkler system too that the HOA randomly turns on for like 5 minutes, so I can’t use a mini rototiller to work in huge amounts of peat moss and compost.  On the bright side I have a husband and he is willing to hand dig holes and then we mix in all the peat moss and worm castings with the original sand or clay and refill around the plants. 

Once again Canna Lillys and Gladiolus are perennials.  The drift and knockout roses are doing well, and I just planted my favorite Iris (My grandchildren still live in Cincinnati.)  I’m going to try planting peonies this fall.  I may be dumping ice on them in the late winter and early spring to keep them cool enough to set buds.  If nothing else, it will entertain the neighbors.  We will see how the lilies do, they looked great this spring also known as the first summer around here.  Someday I will share my views on garden attire and tools.  Like I said I’m a constant source of entertainment and sometimes confusion for the neighborhood.