Hidden Hills Garden

Exciting News

Posted on October 16, 2014 by Peggy Hill

I have lots of exciting news! First, the Birmingham Botanical Gardens’ fall plant sale is this weekend, October 18 and 19. Here’s a link to more information. And second, they used a picture of me shopping at last year’s sale on the postcard they sent in the mail.

I showed it to Monica, and she laughed and said, “Oh my God mom, you are so goofy and weird. Look at how excited you are in that picture.” I would describe myself as joyful, but Monica has a point.

Another thrilling event is that I’m going to write the back page of Alabama Gardener in every other issue in 2015. The assignment was available last year, and I really wanted it, but I didn’t think that I was ready. Then, a few months ago, they asked me. – I’ve changed my mind about not being good enough yet. I am going to write the shit out of the back page. Here’s a link so you can subscribe or renew.

And speaking of the magazine, have you seen the October issue? My picture of the amnesia rose made the cover. It’s so fun for me to see how my articles look in the magazine, and it’s an exhilarating surprise when my work is on the cover.

I don’t really know where it go with the rest of this post, so I’ll just run out to the garden, take some pretty pictures and call it a day.

Persian shield and wishbone flower (Torenia)

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The potted garden at the garage.

beauty berry (Callicarpa americana), native plant

Our native beauty berry (Callicarpa americana).

Bidwill’s hybrid coral bean (Erythrina x bidwillii)

Seven-son flower (Heptacodium miconioides)

A close-up of the seven-son flower (Heptacodium miconioides)

Bleeding heart (Dicentra eximia ‘Dolly Sods’)

Sorry about the mostly self-indulgent post. Come back next week; I promise I’ll talk more about gardening and less about me.

Posted in Container Gardening, I love this plant, What's Blooming? | 4 Comments

Cheekwood Botanical Garden

Posted on September 20, 2014 by Peggy Hill

Last Monday we were in Nashville to see the band Leftover Salmon perform at the Ryman. I’m going to buy the recording from the show because I’m fairly certain that I’ll be able to hear myself screaming and cheering at the end of every song. Dale took two days off work, and it was a wonderful little get-away. We visited Cheekwood Botanical Garden on Tuesday. It was awesome, and I have so many great pictures to show you, that I’m going to split this into two posts. Here’s a link to the other post on my blog for Alabama Gardener.

This was the display just outside the visitor center.

That’s a lot of mums and pumpkins! I especially like the pumpkins piled at the base of the crepe myrtles. The tall, narrow grass in these pictures is the 2014 perennial plant of the year, Panicum virgatum ‘Northwind’. Both the mums and the grasses are still in their pots, but you don’t notice it because the pots are hidden under piles of pine straw.

If you go back to the first picture, and look at the far left, you’ll notice a patch of pink. It’s Sunpatients ‘Compact Blush Pink’. It doesn’t look very compact to me, but it’s beautiful. I wish Dale was wearing a different shirt because that color combination is not good.

Inside the visitor center is this adorable fountain.

The nice man behind the desk was pleased to learn that it was National Indoor Plant Week. – My mind is full of useful/useless horticultural information. – I asked him what was the “not to be missed” garden, and he sent us to the Japanese garden.

You can simply buy Kamagra through any registered and authorized medical pharmacy. viagra in canada Therefore if you are an impotency victim and is getting puzzled in between the available options then it’s the time to take your decision and to choose this safe, approved, well-tolerated and effective medication for the treatment of ED is Kamagra 100 mg for men as the drug contains the same component. viagra canadian A reliable online drugstore always offers all vital information about online pharmacy sildenafil the medicine before starting off with its treatment. Smaller or brand viagra pfizer petite patients may have lower normal readings than adults. The path we took to the Japanese garden was stunning. Just ignore those white poles holding the electric fence up. – Damn deer! – Don’t you think the posts would look better painted black?

The path switch-backed, and this collection of crepe myrtles is on the other side of the border you just saw.

Next are my two favorite pictures of the Japanese garden.

The garden was amazing. See for yourself.

In conclusion, I loved Cheekwood Botanical Garden, and I need to go back again to see the rest of it. And if you’re interested, there’s also a museum of art on the property, but I’ll never see it because I’ll be in the garden.

Posted in In the Neighborhood | 2 Comments

My Garden and Synchronized Swimming on Girls’ Weekend

Posted on September 11, 2014 by Peggy Hill

Girls’ Weekend 2014 #4 just ended, and we recorded a video to address the three things that we’ve discussed for over a decade:

What to say when people ask, “What do you do on Girls’ Weekend?”
How are we going to get on the Ellen show?
Synchronized swimming

Here’s a link to our video.

I’ve been thinking about it all morning, and I’ve concluded that, when properly performed, synchronized swimming trains you in the way that you should live your life. This is especially true for the flag-hand maneuver. Perfectly executed, you feel the love you have for your fellow swim-dancers, as you joyfully raise your hand. Then fling that love out into the universe and watch it fly with the biggest, goofiest, Martin-Short-like grin you can possibly make. It’s a difficult move to master, and I think we need a little more practice. Other than that, and our need for more orange life vests, The PhanC Platter Sisters nailed it.

Well, that’s the only story I’m telling about Girls’ Weekend this year. Here are some pretty pictures of my garden taken at the end of August.

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The view from my front porch.

Follow the sidewalk around to the front door.

You might have noticed that one lonely silver sage (Salvia argentia) in the last picture. I planted several seedlings this spring, and he’s the sole survivor. I’m going to move him to this group, and try again next spring.

The blue star (Amsonia) is just beginning to show some yellow fall color.

That last picture is Mexican Speckled Wandering Jew (Tinantia pringlei). Plant Delight Nursery isn’t selling it anymore, but they have a button on this page to request that they offer it again.

A personal note to Ellen: If you’d like to know a little more about the PhanC Platter Sisters before you invite us on the show, this post introduces us.

My favorite picture from that post is the one I use on my business card.

Posted in Family, I love this plant, What's Blooming? | 1 Comment

Vertical Garden at Birmingham Airport

Posted on August 23, 2014 by Peggy Hill

I have neglected my garden and my blog, and concentrated my efforts on doing what little I can to help Leandra through this most difficult time. Thank you for your prayers and kind thoughts.

Because I didn’t want to leave her for four days, Leandra came to girls’ weekend 2014 #3. We spent the weekend with my grade-school friends. They’re the kind of friends that you don’t just know, you know why they are the way they are; you were there for the experiences that shaped them. I love them all, and I’m blessed to have them in my life.

Anyway, Leandra and I flew out of Birmingham airport, and they had the coolest vertical garden.

It looked like they used something similar to those blankets that you buy from the U-Haul people, and made pockets to plant in.

Although the yellow sticky pads are not attractive, I’m glad that they chose to control their pest problem in this way. The crap they could have sprayed isn’t good for the people spraying it, and it wouldn’t have been good for everyone walking by and smelling that shit.
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I feel obliged to post a vacation picture because Monhegan Island was crazy beautiful.

And look at this adorable picture that I took on the island. If I ever add a bridge over the creek, I’ll look for three plastic billy goats in various sizes.

Well, that’s it for now. I need to go take care of some of the other things that I’ve neglected. I don’t even have time to tell you about our “three hour tour” and how the coast guard had to rescue us, and how the lobster-man had to rescue the coast guard, and how we all had to put on life jackets.

Posted in Family, In the Neighborhood | Leave a comment

Wordless Wednesday and Pretty Pictures from July 4th

Posted on August 6, 2014 by Peggy Hill

Our friend, John Garrett, took these pictures during the July 4th weekend.

Purple Angelonia, <span id= The device can be worn discreetly under clothing (even at work, if a man has a low-exertion job) and needs to be applied consistently for a course where you will get to opt for this program. https://www.supplementprofessors.com/cialis-6552.html tadalafil 5mg no prescription You need to take this medicine just like the buy viagra 100mg other medicines but they are just temporary. Studies show that foods such cialis on line as citrus, chocolate, garlic, onions, spicy, fried and fatty foods all contribute to optimum health for the people who rely on it . There is no specific direction for these herbal pills can be placed from online cialis soft the comfort of home or office. sweet potato vine ‘Margarita’ and penta ‘Butterfly Red'” alt=”Purple Angelonia, sweet potato vine ‘Margarita’ and penta ‘Butterfly Red'” src=”http://hiddenhillsgarden.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/1-DSC_0013-001.jpg” width=”545″ height=”665″ /> It’s a law that I must tell you when I post about plants that I get for free because I’m a plant ho. This last picture is the Echinacea ‘Southern Belle’ that I got when I attended the 2011 Garden Writers symposium. I was planning to go again this year, but I canceled the trip. Shit happens.

Posted in Container Gardening, I love this plant | Leave a comment

The Saddest Thing Ever

Posted on July 23, 2014 by Peggy Hill

My family is going through the saddest thing we have ever dealt with. This is what my 28-year-old daughter, Leandra, posted on her Facebook page:

My soul mate was buried today. The love of my life . . . He said we would be together forever and a day. And the last day would be the best day of all the days before. Then we would leave this world together so we would never have to miss each other. . . When he left for work in the morning, he would wake up 5 minutes early to give me an extra long goodbye. He would always ask, “Can’t I just put u in my pocket and take you with me so I don’t have to miss u all day long?” Then I would say, “But baby, I can’t fit in your pocket!” Then he would give me the saddest pouty face and kiss my forehead, both my cheeks and my lip, and say, “I bless this face.” Then he would leave for work. . . He called me his babylove, told me he couldn’t wait for me to have a big fat potbelly (all stuffed with a baby). He said I would have the most beautiful fat potbelly ever. He made me breakfast in bed every weekend, and told me I was his whole world. He never got mad at me. Not once. . . It’s not his fault he had a heart attach. He was only 28, strong, fast, did back flips, I called him my ninja. . . I am so thankful we never fought and always parted with a big kiss and an “I love you,” and then we would argue about who would miss whom more. . . But if that is not how u say goodbye to your love, it IS true what they say, any day could be their last. So treat every day that way. . . I still tell Ira every day how much I love him. But I never have to say goodbye because I know he is always with me. And he will never have to miss me or want me in his packet because now his spirit can follow me around everywhere I go. . . You can disagree all you want, but there has never been a greater love than the love that Ira and I had. I’ll spend every day of the rest of my life missing him, and loving him, and waiting for him to grab a hold of me so we can be together again.

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Posted in Family | 2 Comments

How to Control the Hibiscus Sawfly

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Peggy Hill

It’s that time of year again, when it’s so humid that the camera has to adjust for about 20 minutes before it can take a decent picture.

It’s also the time of year when the hibiscus sawfly devours my hibiscus. The plant looks ugly for awhile, so I don’t look at it. I look at something else until the hibiscus recovers and starts to bloom, which it always does.

Why would you look at the ugly hibiscus when there’s a fabulous ‘Sparkling Burgundy’ pineapple lily in front of it?

If I ever decide to do something other than what I do now – which is absolutely nothing because that’s the easiest and bestest way – I’ll follow this advice. It was posted on Facebook by Lloyd Traven, owner of Peace Tree Farm, and was in response to someone’s request for help.

“The fabled hibiscus sawfly—it is NOT a caterpillar, so Dipel and Spinosad are not the agents of choice here. Also, they grow really fast, since they eat like pigs, so early treatment is important. No real biological controls except lacewing larvae, but you are WAY past that point—you have to put the eggs out early, right when you expect the sawfly to show up—-use the NOAA degree day calculation for your area from this summer/spring, and when you get close to the number from a couple weeks ago, release next year. Right now—Suffoil-X is organic option, full coverage required. But knowing (I removed the name), he is going nuclear immediately, so Talstar or something like it. Careful—eye and throat irritant. Do NOT use imidacloprid—just the wrong choice entirely for this, aside from all the other issues.”

I almost deleted the last part of that quote because I don’t want anyone to go nuclear, but I do want to give you good and complete information, so I left it in. The first part of the quote makes the point that it’s important to know what you are dealing with before you decide on a treatment, so here’s a picture of the hibiscus sawfly:

In addition to being the hibiscus sawfly time of year, it’s also crazy busy, and I only have time for one more, quick horticultural-related story before I need to go do other things.
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Warning: If you don’t want to hear about my Clivia, you should stop reading right now.

My Clivia

Summer is our favorite time of year to have guests, and last weekend my husband’s family visited. I asked my nieces, “Have I ever showed you my Clivia?” Then I made a sweeping gesture that included many items. “I wanted to put it outside for summer, but your Uncle Dale doesn’t want me to do that. He’s worried that something will nibble on my Clivia.”

They have known me all their lives, so they just roll their eyes and shake their heads.

Okay, now I must go change a few beds because it’s that time of year, and I need to prepare for the July 4^th guests.

Posted in Creatures in the garden, I love this plant, Tips and Stuff | Leave a comment

How to Harvest Garlic

Posted on June 8, 2014 by Peggy Hill

I wrote a post last fall titled ‘How to Plant Garlic‘, and if you followed those instructions, then you probably have lots of garlic in the garden, and you might want to cut the flower stalks off them. It’s hard to do because the curly stems look so cool, but you want the plant to use its energy making the biggest, most delicious garlic possible.

They call the flower stalks garlic scapes. I wish that I’d researched recipes that use them instead of just throwing them on the compost, what a waste.

I left a few of the scapes because I want the beautiful flowers. They dry easily, and last forever. Unless you loan them to your friend Trace because you think that he might want to use them in a New Year’s Eve centerpiece which will end up in the April 2014 issue of Alabama Gardener. If you do that, then they are gone forever.

Most of my garlic plants need more time before they’re ready to be harvested, but I waited a little too long to harvest this one. Do you see the one in the lower left corner that’s fallen over and looks almost dead?

I should have pulled it up sooner. It’s still a nice, big clove of garlic, but it would have a longer shelf life if I’d harvested it a little sooner.Harvest when the bottom 2 or 3 leaves are brown and the plant looks about 40% dead.

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We ate all of the 2013 crop, so the first cloves that I pick this week will go directly into the kitchen. Before I end this post, I want to show you a few pretty pictures that I took this week.

The hydrangeas and daylilies are wonderful right now.

Getting back to the garlic, in addition to showing you pictures when they bloom, I’ll do some taste tests with the different varieties and let you know the results later.

Posted in Delicious!!, Spinning in the Backyard, Tips and Stuff | Tagged Endless Summer Hydrangea, Garlic, Garlic flowers, Harvesting Garlic | 5 Comments

How to Keep Birds Away

Posted on May 26, 2014 by Peggy Hill

“Look Peggy, I think that bird has a nest in that bush.”

“I don’t think so Dale. That’s a blueberry bush. Damn birds want my berries.”

This was obviously a berry-emergency that demanded immediate action. So I tied a piece of tinfoil to one of the branches. I’ve never done this before. Usually I tie a Mylar balloon to the plant. Mind-readers-for-birds say that this tricks the stupid birds into thinking the plant is on fire. But like I said, it was an emergency, and I didn’t have any balloons, and the tinfoil seems to be working just fine.
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I bought a special, customizable balloon for my other blueberry plant. When the blueberries are done for the season, I’ll move it to the fig tree.

Posted in Birds, Creatures in the garden, Delicious!!, Tips and Stuff | Tagged birds, blueberries, protecting crops | Leave a comment

How to Root Cuttings

Posted on May 18, 2014 by Peggy Hill

It’s been crazy, springtime busy around here, and it’s also crazy beautiful. The mountain laurel in my yard peaked on Mother’s Day weekend.

That’s our newest addition to the family, Layla. Isn’t she cute? Anyway, one of the things that I’ve been doing is rooting cuttings. Not because I need any more plants, but because I wanted to prune my Persian shield so that it would branch more. I find it hard to just toss the cutting on the compost pile when, with a little effort, I can have another beautiful plant. I love plants!

I’m about to cut it back.

It’s easy and fun to root cuttings. First, fill small pots with potting soil, put them in a waterproof container, and water with rainwater or dechlorinated water to settle the soil. Leave some water in the bottom of the container so that the soil will stay very wet for the first week. Next, trim the cutting that you will later remove. If it’s tall, remove the top. Then cut any large leaves in half. That’s a really good trick to help plants that lack an adequate root system. Plants are like big water pumps; they suck water up through their roots, and it evaporates through their leaves. – “Evaporate” is probably not the correct term, but you know what I mean. – Cutting the leaves in half reduces the rate at which the plant loses water and helps it survive until it can make some roots. This is what it looked like before removal:

Make the final cut just above the first set of leaves that you didn’t cut in half, and then quick-like-a-bunny push it into the prepared pot.

If you use rooting hormone, don’t just shove it in the soil; you’ll wipe off the hormone. Use a stick to make a hole that’s a little bigger than the stem, put the cutting in the hole and gently pat the soil around the stem. But lots of plants, like coleus and sedum, root easily without messing with the hormone.

Basil is another plant that roots very easily, even without rooting hormone.

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When the container is full, put a lid on it. I use a second container placed upside-down. I call it “the cooker”.

Put the cooker where the sun don’t shine, in the deep shade of the porch, for about ten days, and then take the lid off. After another four days, take your plant out of the tray and slowly transition it to more light. Watch closely, and if you see signs of stress, go back a step or two.

You know how on cooking shows, after they put the dish in the oven, they open a different oven and take out a hot, bubbly delicious thing, so you can see it all done? Well, look in the nursery.

I made those a few weeks ago, and once they get a little stronger, I’ll give them to my daughter, Monica. Thanks for editing my blog honey. I love you.

Posted in Family, It Just Grew There, Tips and Stuff, What's Blooming? | Tagged how to root cuttings, Persian shield | 2 Comments

Hidden Hills Garden

Exciting News

Cheekwood Botanical Garden

My Garden and Synchronized Swimming on Girls’ Weekend

Vertical Garden at Birmingham Airport

Wordless Wednesday and Pretty Pictures from July 4th

The Saddest Thing Ever

How to Control the Hibiscus Sawfly

How to Harvest Garlic

How to Keep Birds Away

How to Root Cuttings

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