The Daily Bug

June 6, 1944 REMEMBER

Posted by: palmettobug53, 4:22 PM GMT on May 30, 2009

Pause for a minute today to honor and remember the ones that sacrificed their lives on this day in the name of Freedom.

Normandy Landing

Nat'l D-Day Memorial Foundation

The Men of Bedford, VA

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Just heard the news: Link

Sorry about the flub up on the name. It was David, not Keith. I didn't get much sleep last night and my synapses are mis-firing!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
There are so many of us here that enjoy plants and working in our yards and gardens. A few of us put in a "real" vegetable garden every year. Some of us, either due to limited space, sun, time, limited growing season or ability, opt for a few veggies in pots or just a tomato plant or two. Some of us lean more towards flowers, or ferns, tropical plants, roses, natives, or whathaveyou. There are as many plant options as there are folks here on WU.

Whichever route we take, we all seem to have a love for plants and that means... The Garden Centre!

Ah, the irresistable clarion call of the Garden Centre..... It's an addiction for true plant lovers!

You've all heard me talk about going to Park Seed, when I go up to visit Dad. That place is heaven on earth! I could spend hours there. AND a ton of $$$$! It is a real wrench to realize that I simply cannot buy everything in sight or that I don't even have a place to put it all. So many plants; so little time! LOL

At one time, Abide-A-While in Mt. Pleasant was THE place to go here in the Charleston area. That, and Cross Seed (which recently closed up shop after many, many years - SOB!), were about the only places available to the general public. I'm talking about 30 or 40 years ago. Any other "plant" places catered more to farmers, than the average person wanting to potter in their yards. That's how Cross Seed started out but they eventually concentrated on the general public sector.

Now, however, there are multiple choices available for the weekend gardener. In spite of that, I do tend to shop mostly at Walmart, Lowe's or Home Depot, for inexpensive plants and supplies. But the selections are limited, if you are looking for that one-of-a-kind plant that you've seen in a magazine or on one of the many gardening shows on TV. For that, you need to go to a nursery.

One of the most charmingly named local nurseries is Bombadil's Garden and Gifts, in Summerville. I'm not sure, but I think they may be more landscaping and gifts, than a retail nursery these days. Seems like I read something a while back, that they were changing their offerings or services.

There is a Dirt Dobber Nursery, also in Summerville. That's another good name! (For those of you not familiar with this Southern denizen: Dirt Dobber)

There are TONS of places across the country and across the world, that you can order from. Keep in mind, that contrary to your local garden centre, their offerings may not thrive in your climate. They may not even be allowed, for that matter. (Can you say "invasive species"? LOL ) You will need to do your research first! Your local garden centres tend to stock plants that are proven winners in your area, even if the selection seems rather boring!

So, let's talk garden centres and nurseries and PLANTS!

Park Seed Company

Park Seed Trial Gardens

Wayside Gardens

Jackson & Perkins Company

Park Seed Online Catalog

Wayside Gardens Online Catalog Wayside, even though they are now part of Park Seed, tends to carry a little bit of a different inventory. They things that are a little "outside the box".

Jackson & Perkins Online Catalog

Though this next bit is not specifically about Garden Centres, you can find Antique/Heirloom roses at specialty nurseries.

One of my favorite flowers are roses. When Hubby and I got married, we had a very "homemade" wedding. I'd never really wanted a big, fancy church wedding to start off with. My Mama was in the last stages of terminal cancer and unable to do much in the way of planning. Friends and neighbors all pitched in to provide us with a day to remember. When asked what kind of flowers I wanted, I replied, "Roses. Out of people's yards. The fragrant ones." And, bless them all, that's what I got. They were heavenly.

I've never had much luck with hybrid tea roses, which are the ones more commonly available, as they always seem to get black spot and die on me. I've bought them time and again, only to be disapointed. I've got a couple of Knock Out roses. One of them was a birthday gift, when we had our Charleston WUBA cookout. It is doing GREAT! Not to knock the Knock Outs; they bloom their hearts out, look lovely and are fairly carefree. No black spot, so far. BUT... they don't smell. And a fragrance free rose is just not the same.

One of these days, I'm going to try antique roses. These are the roses that traveled the country in covered wagons, as carefully tended slips. This is before the days of hybrid teas. Hybrid teas are lovely but they've been bred and bred to the point where many of them are susceptible to many diseases and pests. The old time roses, sometimes also called heirloom roses, tend to be hardy.

I learned about these roses in an article about the Texas Rose Rustlers many years ago, in an article in Smithsonian magazine. I was tickled to read about these folks, rescuing old roses and propagating them, so that they wouldn't be lost. Their website doesn't seem to link to anything other than rustling etiquette. Here is an article about them: April/May 1994 issue of Flower & Garden Magazine

Updated: 2:01 AM GMT on June 08, 2009

Permalink | A A A

View Comments (71)

About palmettobug53

WU member since Oct. 2005. I enjoy reading, crafts, crosswords, puttering in the yard, old movies and hanging out with my friends on WU.

Tropical Blogs

Tropical Weather Stickers®

Contact This Author

Local Weather

Charleston, South Carolina

77 °F

Light Drizzle

Detailed Conditions & Forecast

Recent Photos

palmettobug53's Wunder Photos

Previous Entries for 2013

USC Sumter Sumter, SC
Elevation:	165 ft
Temperature:	72.0 °F
Dew Point:	67.9 °F
Humidity:	87%
Wind:	1.0 mph from the NNW
Wind Gust:	7.0 mph
Updated: 10:30 AM EDT on May 21, 2013 Station History

Lake Rabon Laurens, SC
Elevation:	615 ft
Temperature:	75.8 °F
Dew Point:	71.6 °F
Humidity:	87%
Wind:	Calm
Wind Gust:	0.0 mph
Updated: 10:40 AM EDT on May 21, 2013 Station History