This was an excellent project, sponsored by CU Extension's Water Quality programs, Pickens County Stormwater Initiative, and Pickens County Extension.
I described the plants and process on a recent post on my personal gardening blog.
Thursday, October 27, 2011
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Small meadow plantings
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| Junction of Arboretum Rd and the service road to the Hort. Support Area |
Kathy Bridges, one of our staff horticulturists, has been working magic creating small meadow swaths along our entrance road medians, along the Arboretum Road, and the junction towards the horticultural support area.
The small meadow planting at the junction is particularly nice, and looks great in early morning light.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Fall
Fall is one of the best times to visit the Garden. Our perennial borders in the Children's Garden, and above the Hayden Conference Center are outstanding, not to mention the Butterfly Garden (just beyond the Children's Garden).
Lots of flower visitors --butterflies, flower flies, bumblebees, honeybees, carpenter bees, sweat bees, wasps, etc. -- check them out!
Lots of flower visitors --butterflies, flower flies, bumblebees, honeybees, carpenter bees, sweat bees, wasps, etc. -- check them out!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
It's time to plant
Yes, it's been a dry late summer and early fall, but we have had a good rainy spell last week, cooler temperatures are ahead, and it's time to plant!
The Garden's Fall Plant Sale begins tomorrow with our Friend's sale (Sept. 30: 2:30-6 pm; you can join on the spot), and our public sale on Saturday (Oct. 1) from 9 am to 1 pm.
Ryan Merck, our Nursery Manager, has put together a great array of plants, from woodies to perennials, all plants that you're not going to find at a local big box store or garden center.
Check it out!
The Garden's Fall Plant Sale begins tomorrow with our Friend's sale (Sept. 30: 2:30-6 pm; you can join on the spot), and our public sale on Saturday (Oct. 1) from 9 am to 1 pm.
Ryan Merck, our Nursery Manager, has put together a great array of plants, from woodies to perennials, all plants that you're not going to find at a local big box store or garden center.
Check it out!
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Drought and fall
The last 6 weeks have been remarkably dry for the Garden. Before that, it was a nicely wet spring and normal early summer.
Thunderstorms that have helped ease late summer drought elsewhere in the Upstate have passed us by and the unusually high temperatures have resulted in parched-looking landscapes throughout our area. Towards the Blue Ridge Escarpment and the mountains, rainfall is much closer to normal, but here in the Piedmont, it's dry.
Needless to say, we're trying to balance responsible irrigation with a sustainable gardening ethic.
It's interesting to notice what plants are still looking good, too. Take a look around your own landscape (if you're in an incipient drought region), and check it out.
There are a great number of plants that are still looking good, along with a lot of plants (both natives and non-natives) which aren't looking so great.
Thunderstorms that have helped ease late summer drought elsewhere in the Upstate have passed us by and the unusually high temperatures have resulted in parched-looking landscapes throughout our area. Towards the Blue Ridge Escarpment and the mountains, rainfall is much closer to normal, but here in the Piedmont, it's dry.
Needless to say, we're trying to balance responsible irrigation with a sustainable gardening ethic.
It's interesting to notice what plants are still looking good, too. Take a look around your own landscape (if you're in an incipient drought region), and check it out.
There are a great number of plants that are still looking good, along with a lot of plants (both natives and non-natives) which aren't looking so great.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Searching for Salamanders
We had a wonderful turn out for Searching for Salamanders, Finding Frogs and Catching Crayfish on a coolish Saturday morning. Despite the numbers I think everyone had a good time and got to explore several different areas of the creek. We counted 67 participants!!
We found 2 salamanders, bunches of frogs, and crayfish and a rather stunned box turtle. Being surrounded by many pairs of feet will to that to a shy, retiring creature!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Day Two Fanning Summer Science Camp: Birds
We began day two inside working on a bird mural. Here Blaine is hard at work rendering a robin. The goals for this morning activity were to beco
me familiar using identification guides, to think about rendering details (field marks), and have fun! I discovered they love to paint -
We were extremely lucky to be the recipients of three Identiflyers, made by a local company based in Salem, SC - just down the road from the Botanical Garden. This is an extremely easy to operate bird song identifier. The kids loved playing with them in the Nature Center, almost as much as outside - below is my son James having a great time with one. Just sitting with them began to tune the children into birdsongs. Outside on the trail the Identiflyers were even more fun- as they enticed first a Blue Jay and then a Robin to check out the invading "birds."
me familiar using identification guides, to think about rendering details (field marks), and have fun! I discovered they love to paint -
We were extremely lucky to be the recipients of three Identiflyers, made by a local company based in Salem, SC - just down the road from the Botanical Garden. This is an extremely easy to operate bird song identifier. The kids loved playing with them in the Nature Center, almost as much as outside - below is my son James having a great time with one. Just sitting with them began to tune the children into birdsongs. Outside on the trail the Identiflyers were even more fun- as they enticed first a Blue Jay and then a Robin to check out the invading "birds."
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