Dog woods in bloom at Red Oak Hollow

Spring time in Red Oak Hollow

I am so ready to be there. Twenty days to go.

Tigress, Tea rose that explodes with color

Tigress, feline rose

New rose for me. Bought it last year at the end of the season.
First year it has bloomed so beautifully.

Chewbacco's offspring? Ewok baby?

Cutest dog ever

This is Bailey, he is son of Blaze. Blaze is Daisy Mae's boyfriend. Although Blaze is one month younger than ingenue Daisy, he is a proven stud. He has sired two litters already.

Bailey is the pick of the litter and now belongs to Blaze's mom. She is looking for the perfect home for him. She offered him to me and I am so sad to say I can't right now. I didn't even ask the husband. If the husband sees this post, yes, I really want him, even though...We are moving...Even though a puppy is not a good idea right now...Even though....

Bailey is three months old and only 1 1/2 lbs. He is so tiny and may grow to be less than 3 lbs.
He is in excellent health, champion bloodline are both sides, parents can be seen, ect.
He is so sweet. They came over yesterday evening and I couldn't keep my eyes off him.
He is smaller than a Beanie Baby. He is very good natured, played with Daisy's toys and snuggles up and sleeps right on your chest. Daisy was certainly interested in him, but frankly a little jealous.

If you are interested in him, respond to this post and I will pass it on to his current mom.
She is very picky on his placement, very picky.

Tea Tree says farewell to Spring

Millions of tiny fuchsia colored flowers, Millions

It time to say farewell to the Tea Tree in bloom. It was a good run, around four weeks this year.
The tree is so striking. It was in perfect bloom when we showed the house. Timing is everything.
The best thing for the buyer is that next year he gets to get excited when it pushes bud and begins to bloom. Excellent time to plan a garden party.

I keep calling him the buyer. Does he continue to read this blog? Let us know! Leave a message.

The Pond we wanted and the boat we didn't

Red Oak Hollow pond

The little spot in this photo is our boat. It came with the pond. Actually, it came in the pond.
The previous owners just left it.
I didn't even spotted it when we first looked at the property. My husband did , but he thought it wasn't a problem. He has already fished the boat out of the pond. We layed it at the end of the field to dry out. We figure it would make either a good planting box or a worm farm.
It has seen it's days, as a boat.

He knew that it was Lemon Balm and not mint

Lemon Balm to your knees

When the buyer and I were walking thru the garden , he asked if this was lemon balm.
I knew then and there, that he was a gardener.
Most people would just see a green plant, some would guess mint.
He nailed it.
Now what do I do with all this lemon balm? I have in the past, dried it and used it in tea blends, sachets, and just stuck it in a vase with other flowers for it' s scent. It grows fast and I usually cut it thrice a season. I don't think I ever used thrice in a sentence before.

The color aqua

The color of the restful sea

In my seemingly never ending quest to take extreme close ups of flowers, I have gone mad.
This photo is a fraud. It's my pillow. Not a real flower. Just Silk, but what a great color for a flower.

For the sale of our home, I bought an entirely new bed set for our master bedroom. I didn't like the neutral spread I bought, but it had a teal, aqua color running thru it. The bedroom set is not us, but it was part of the plan, to make there room as inviting as possible for sale. It worked. I even have had moving estimators say what a nice room the bedroom is. I packed up the spread and all the pillows. In our next home, it will be the guest room wearing aqua.

Does anyone know of this color in a natural flower?

Love and all it's entanglements

Love and all it's entanglements

Love in a mist, Nigella Damascena is an intriguing spring flower.
It certainly seems well named.
This variety is probably Miss Jekyll, with her cornflower blue blossoms.

Chinese Lantern getting ready to open

Chinese Lantern; Abutilon

Why would they call a plant which is native to South America, Chinese Lantern, Chinese Bellflower and Flowering Maple? Seems very cross cultural, to me.

This is a wonderful plant, with rapid growth and striking flowers. I planted 3 of them; one white, pink and red. The white passed away to plant heaven and in it's place came two volunteers. I replanted my volunteers in the white's spot. Last year, they were too small to flower.
They are doing well. Before I leave, I hope to see what colors they might be.

Chinese Lantern makes a great backdrop. It can grow, up to 10 feet. It blooms from May to August in this garden. Hummingbirds are attracted to it. They stand in front of a wall with a cement base and a depth to the garden.

Garden fairy

Garden fairy

Daisy Mae looks pensive in her new outfit. Perhaps she was thinking
" Why does my mom dress me?
How am I going to get along in Tennessee, wearing dresses.
All the other dogs are going to laugh....
What I need is some overalls."

Some one guessed where our Red Oak Hollow is

Someone asked me on this blog..... Why Sewanne?
I don't recall that, I ever wrote where Red Oak Hollow is, either on this blog or on the HGTV message board, which I enjoy visiting . So how did they figure it out?


Sewanee is on the Cumberland Plateau in Middle Tennessee. It is a pre- civil war college town. It's called the Oxford of the South. To us, Sewanee was an extra. We saw the town, after we saw the land. The land is 30 acres, 2 streams, 3 ponds, 8 acres cleared, the rest hardwoods. The previous owner was a gardener and half of her plantings are still surprises for me to discover. We bought the land two years ago and had a five year plan to move there. The plan was put into overdrive, after visiting our place, five times last year.

My husband found a job based in Chattanooga and I will keep my national sales job from California. Yes, we are blessed in that way. We are so done with CA. Too much stress, too many people and the high cost of living is really the high cost of dying. My dream is to live rural but have a little something extra nearby. My husband dream is to simply live rural. We both got what we wanted. The Domain( that's what they call the university of the South) is more than a little extra; young people, music festival , writer's conference, library, herbarium, ect. I absolutely wanted to live near a college town, but didn't know where to start looking. I kept that feeling to myself. I never even put that request on our dream list, when we started to look for land. We were trying to figure out weather, cost of living, low taxes, possible jobs and a college town seemed a little much to ask.
How lucky am I?

Watsonia , kin to Gladiolus

Watsonia doing it's best to cheer me up

Great color from this plant; a hot pink center with a deep salmon peach.
These dandy plant are originally from South Africa, but mine came from my friend's parents garden in Sonoma County. I call them Ruth and George plants.

Ruth had a great patch of watsonia growing along the backside of her home. Good gardeners are always generous. She offered me some and of course I accepted. Free plants always have a home in my garden. I planted them, perhaps 10 years ago. They naturalized very easily, but took a few years to bloom. Beside this vivid pink/orange, I also have them in true white.

George and Ruth had 5 acres in Sonoma, outside Healdsburg. They lived their since the 1970's, before Healdsburg really gussy uped and became the next Napa.

In the late 80's, I volunteered to pick grapes at George's vineyard. We picked his second crop, which was considerable that year. Originally, he grew Gamay, which he sold to Gallo. But as the wine and grape business improved , he t -budded over to Merlot which he sold to Kendall Jackson.

Back in the day of Gamay, his daughter and I and our dates thought it would be fun to pick grapes. It was fun for the first hour, while we joked around and got use to using the short sharp knife. The second hour we lost interest and by the third hour we gave up. I know why tall people don't usually pick grapes. It really is back bending work. Harder work than, I was ever raised to do. I admire the grape pickers. Watch them some time, if you ever get a chance.

Living in Limbo

This in between is driving me nuts.
I hate it.
I have mini breakdowns every other day.

Moving is stressful. I feel like I am moving by myself, because I am.

My husband took a job in Tennessee in March and we wanted to see how it would work out before we moved. It was the net under this tight rope, we call changing our lives.

His job is working out and I can do mine in any location. I sold the house and now am picking out a mover and packing the house.

The only thing I do enjoy is watering the garden, taking more photos and blogging and of course my pets. If I didn't have pets, I would be jumping of the GG bridge by now.

Our well thought out master plan did have a big flaw; stress and loneliness.

In one month, I should be there and not here. Here was good, but now it belongs to the new owners. It's limbo, the place unbaptized babies go. They are not bad, but not good enough to go to heaven. Never quite bought into that Catholic concept as a child. I don't know if the Catholic church still preaches it. Limbo borders hell, moving borders limbo.

Sierra our Cat

Sierra our cat considering the move

At one time I had six cats, you know how that is if you have more than one cat. People with one cat are pet owners, people with more than one cat are cat lovers.

We have one cat already at Red Oak Hollow, a Calico named Koi.

Sierra stayed with me and in the last few months, her personality changed.
She likes being the only cat. She comes around a lot more, sleeps with me and tolerates Daisy Mae.
What she doesn't know is that Koi Kitty is waiting for her at Red Oak Hollow and has a three month jump on her for territory and rank.
What she doesn't' know is that we will be driving out to Tennessee, with her in a travel crate, Birdie in his small bird cage, Daisy Mae in my lap and my six foot five husband driving my convertible. It's going to be a cartoon: 4 days , 2400 miles, three animals.

Bug in a Rose

Bug be gone

Dragon fly in bright day light

I saw a day glow orange dragon fly , as long as my index finger on the aquatic plant in my pond today. It was bright sun , but I grabbed the camera and ran outside. I was amazed how close I got to the bug. I balanced on shifty rocks to get a solid tight shot. He flutter away but kept comings back. He landed on the very tip of this plant. I think he was admiring his reflection in the pond. He certainly posed for me. I will post his photo soon.

Daisy wants to know

Where did my Mom go?

She hasn't posted for awhile, since last Sunday.
Where did my Mom go?
She went to the Garden State and had a long 7 hour delay coming home.
The folks at United are not happy campers, right now. It is best to ask nothing of them, it's all they have to give.

Daisy Mae went for a week's vacation and spent it with her best bud, Blaze.
They played constantly and now she is catching up on her ZZZZZ's

It rained most of the week. The garden was taken care of by nature.
I came back and dead headed most of the roses and saw new plants popping up.
New photo's tomorrow.

Free flowers each year

Mexican Evening Primrose

Best plant for your bucks. I bought a pot or two of these four or five years ago.
They need very little water, but I tend to overwater them and they get taller than they should. It's pretty pink all over the stairs and the path around the fish pond. I walk on them. Daisy Mae looks lost in them.

Now this plant is Oenothera.berlandieri or commonly called Mexican Evening Primrose. It blooms during the daytime. Go figure. It certainly thrives with little or no care once established. Can be invasive if not controlled, although I can't image that this light hearted pink flower would not be wanted. It doesn't transplant well, but it self seeds so easily.

Another wagging dog tale

Tobacco plant; Nicotiana

Once you have nicotiana, you''ll always have nicotiana. It's not an addiction like tobacco, it's not evasive like mint, it just comfortable in the garden and happy to be there. It is an tender perennial but most folks consider it a summer annuals. It's like a rescued Labrador Retriever, happy to be feed, happy to be petted and will always be there.

Last year at Red Oak Hollow, I found a lab puppy walking down the road. He was about five months old, black and as sweet as molasses. I was out for a walk and noticed that he was walking along the county road, sniffing for food. When I called to him, he came and then went belly up in a submissive pose. I, of course coaxed him home. We had a big bag of dog food that came with our new mobile home. In Tennessee, you get a 20lb bag of dog food, when you by a new mobile home from Sunshine mobile homes. Sunshine makes mobile homes and dog food.

We had this big bag of dog food and our Sheltie was in California and frankly she was use to getting much better food. We feed the food to the catfish in our ponds, but here was a hungry puppy. Of course, after you feed him and he ate three times, he was more than willing to hang around. He was gentle, loving and a good ole boy.
We named him Clem. We knew we couldn't keep him. We were just visiting our second home, and had to back in a couple of days.

We went around to see if he belonged to anyone or would they keep him. Since this is a college town and rural community, many dogs were dropped off on the mountain. He was probalby gun shy and the hunter didn't want him. I wanted to fly him back with us to California, as my husband rolled his eyes. It wasn't the best plan, because Molly our 12 years old Shelite wasn't feeling well and we knew she was not open to having a large puppy around. After, a dog is ten years old it is hard to introduce another dog into a home. Most older dogs really prefer to be alone, the center of attention. Molly was our princess and we knew the timing of this new dog would be very upsetting to her. She actually passed away about a month later, so we right about the choice.

Anyways ,we found the local dog pound, took Clem there and they called the animal rescue people. I wanted to do more for Clem, but as I was ready to leave Tennessee that Monday morning, I had a phone call that my Mom died and I had to fly to Michigan. Clem did get pushed into the back of my mind.

My Swimming Hole

My Swimming Hole at Red Oak Hollow

It's rock lined and trimmed with plants. It needs some work
to get it back into shape. I need some work to get back into shape.
I should be swimming there in a month.

The Road Less traveled

The Road Less traveled at Red Oak Hollow

We were lucky to have found land that was previously lived on.
They had a home, it burned down to the ground 8 years ago.
They let the land go, with only an occasional bush hogging.
But they had cleared around 8 acres, had a road in to the home site and a path that wrapped around thru the woods. Two creeks, three ponds, a back meadow that we already planted with soy beans is waiting for me.

Orange Stars come out in the daylight

Punch up the garden

This is a houseplant. I bought it at Home Depot.
Don't you just hate it when you can't remember?

This is pretty common gift giving houseplant, but it screams look at me.
It breaks off easily and I just root tone it and stick it back into the soil.

Help! Tell me what it is. So I can tell him.

Rocks and plants from other places

Rocks from Napa Valley, Plants from South Africa

We brought the rocks from Napa Valley. We took them right out of an open field.
They were in the way for the annual bush hogging. We may have saved them their blades. Yes, we knew the owners of the field.

We drove the 50 miles back to our home, carried them up the hill and worked them in the land. Most Californians would have just bought them at the local rock store. We did price them out. We said "They must have rocks in their head to charge that much for rocks."

The little coral colored plants came from Chimney Rock winery's garden. The previous owner of the winery, came from South Africa and she told me that was where the little plants came from. They muitlply easily given the right semi shady conditions. They are perky and bright. I use to work for the winery and one of the first things I did was to get to know their full time gardener. He appreciated that I appreciated his work and he gladly potted up roses, butterfly bush and other plants for me. It was one of the little perks that was there for the asking . It pays to be perky.

I will share a little secret

Plants in my office

When we had the stager come in, the first thing she commented on was the first thing she saw.
Our front door leads directly into one bedroom, that I use as my office. She wanted the first look to be the best and she didn't appreciate that I had my HP fax machine sitting there.
She suggested plants. Plants I can easily do. I did one better. I took my plants and dress them up a bit.

Now, I have tried to raise orchids. Every year I buy them either at the San Francisco orchid show or at the local Farmer's Market. They survive but never bloom again for me.
So, I went to Michael's and JoAnn's craft and floral store and bought some silk orchids and placed them in the real orchid pots. The orchids are real in my house, the flowers are not.
I have a couple of orchids in the master bedroom, very romantic and one in the bathroom, the mirrors makes it really pop.

My real estate agent thought they were real, so has everyone else......Except for the buyer.
He raises orchids.He knew by the plants leaf that that it wouldn't produce that type of flower.
I even left the plastic identifier tag in the pot. I thought I was so smart.
We laughed. Busted!!

But I highly recommend dressing up your orchids. Unless you can grow them.

He plans to do so in the greenhouse he is getting with our house.
Happy ending to all.

A gardener's Poem

A Gardener's Musings
Sun dappled memories
Of summer's bright flowers,
Like a living Monet
Where we while away hours.
Sweet butterfly hugs
And tree froggie kisses;
Oh, the wonders and joys
A non-gardener misses!
~HarleyGal
From Blossomswap.com

Some mornings it's hard to get up and stretch

Graceland stretching her sweet petals

It's dawn as I write this. I have been up for a few hours. I can see this rose from my office window. She is waking up, just like I am. Yet, she is doing it without a cup of coffee.

I am going to have my second cup in the hot tub. I need to get my emotions and motions going. I need to start packing, find a moving company and thin things out.

California Tree Hugger

If trees could talk ...

It's the texture of trees that hold me spellbound. It's their girth and height that keep me rooted to this earth. Of all things growing, trees have the biggest effect on me.

This is a close up of one of the pines that we have on our hill. I suspect the trees are older than the house. The house is 48 years old. The trees are tall. I can't really judge height. 40 Feet?
There is at least 9 substantial ones on our hillside. We do nothing to them but watch them grow slowly. They anchor the hill. The provide shade and a playground for the squirrels. They allowed us to feel that we lived in nature.

When my husband and I started to look for property, we were very vague on what we wanted. We wanted water. Not the ocean, more like a lake. But to buy lake- front property, is pretty rare and very expensive. Most lake front property is a strip. We wanted space, not a strip of property that ran down to the lake. What we really wanted was our own lake. What we really needed was a pond.

We both knew we wanted trees. Not the scrub oaks of California, not the transplanted eucalyptus trees from Australia, not even the pines. We wanted trees with leaves that changed color. We wanted dense green canopy. We wanted dogwood blooms, red bud punch. We knew we needed to move out of state. If only for the trees.......

A burst of pink floating in the pond

Water Lily

This photo relaxes me. I think that says enough.

Take a second look

Angel Bunny gets the biggest reaction

It's been really great that people on this blog and on HGTV message board and and On Live Journal on their gardening message board have responds to this blog. Their kind words have really meant a lot to me.

Many people commented about Angel Bunny. She weirds them out. I never before noticed but "Yes indeed, she is odd." It's a cherub statue with a rabbit head. I think it is the naked body with crossed legs that is so unsettling for some folks. From the side view, she seems less strange. We loved her, when we first saw her in Eureka Springs, AK. If you ever been to Eureka Springs, you know it's a little odd for Arkansas. It's a cute town, with an artistic bent. We felt at home, love the town and consider moving there.

I'll try to find another Angel Bunny on the web. If I do, I will post where. Some folks love her and want one.

Moving on: Other people really understood what I attempting to do with the blog. They understand it better than I did.

whitedove1 wrote" A labor of love being sold. I can feel her pain and anxiety of who will end up with her earthly baby." Hit me with a dose of reality. Exactly! This is what I have been feeling.

The house sold immediately. It is being bought by the right guy. He grows orchids and does wood working with his down time. He loves the garden. He will make it his own. I'm sure they will be great garden parties.

I will be moving in a month to our land in Tennessee, Red Oak Hollow.
I will keep blogging.
A little bit more of the California garden and a little bit of Red Oak Hollow.