The Fairy Rose Jacki Kellum Garden The Fairy Rose is an exquisite little specimen that grows in clusters or sprays. The Fairy was introduced in 1932, and she is fragrant, and blooms continuously. She has thorns, but her thorns are not weapons. I have grown old garden roses with much worse thorns. She has few…
Category: Cottage Garden Living
Crimson Clover for the Garden
“In Mississippi, crimson clover can be planted from August–October and typically blooms in late March or early April. Crimson clover is a winter annual that takes around 12 weeks to flower after sowing, or roughly 3 months. Planting 6–8 weeks before the first expected frost is recommended.” Google ai Crimson Clover is an annual, and its…
Fall Watch 2024 – Noting Signs of Autumn As They Occur
First Sweet Autumn Clematis Bloom Jacki Kellum Garden – August 11, 2024 A few days ago, I noticed that my 1-year-old Sweet Autumn Clematis was covered in buds, and today, August 11, 2024, I saw its first bloom: To be very honest, I thought that my Sweet Autumn’s seemingly early show was a fluke. It…
Confederate Rose – Pride of the South – But It’s Not Really A Rose
Confederate Rose – Hibiscus Mutablis “Confederate Rose is a wonderful plant that is really unknown outside the Southeast, where it has been grown in landscapes for many — and I mean many — years. “Confederate Rose is in its prime blooming season in late summer and fall, and these plants will produce literally hundreds of…
Sweet Autumn Clematis – Like Little White Fairies Circling Around My Garden — But Beware! This Girl Can Be Invasive!
Sweet Autumn Clematis and Red New Guinea Impatiens – Jacki Kellum Garden September 2022 Every time I mention that I love Sweet Autumn Clematis, a group of garden puriists hiss and boo. You see, Sweet Autumn Clematis is NOT a Native Plant, and Yes, It Can Be Invasive. But for anyone who is trying to…
Peppermint in the Garden: Bloom Where You Belong – How to Make Peppermint Oil, Salve, & Potpourri – Medicinal Uses for Peppermint
I have been back in Mississippi and growing a garden here again for a little over a year, and I have been reminded of an essential truth about gardening in Mississippi: Plant things in Mississippi that will endure the heat and humidity here: This morning, I went out to my front garden, and I discovered…
It’s All Relative — But Should It Be? Challenge: Really Look at a Female Cardinal Until You See Her
A couple of days ago, I was sitting in My Morning Chair and watching the array of birds that were dropping in and out of my birdfeeders. They shifted and re-shifted every few seconds, and it seemed that I was looking at my garden through a kaleidoscope. I am rather new to the hobby of…
How to Compost to Create Soil for Your Garden
During my lifetime, I have lived and gardened in several parts of the country, and in almost every place I have lived, I have been forced to amend my garden’s soil. Before I moved back to Mississippi, I lived and gardened in the Ozark Mountains, where most of the earth is covered by bedrock. In…
What Is a Four Seasons Garden?
About a week ago, I talked about my Purple Fountain Grass, and I mentioned that historically, Purple Fountain Grass has been part of of my Autumn Gardens. Pumpkin and Purple Fountain Grass – Jacki Kellum Garden Unflortunately, I trampled my little Purple Fountain Grass when I was erecting my new rose arbor, and he is…
Cardinals – Some Facts that Were New to Me – The Crests on Cardinals’ Heads Sometimes Seem Flat
I have recently added a walk-through rose and wisteria arbor to my garden. It is immediately outside my back screened porch, and when I sit on my porch, watching my birds perching on my arbor, I feel like I’m playing a part in the movie Swiss Family Robinson. No, I don’t live in an aerie,…