Making It Grow Minutes

You can easily see large majestic bald cypress trees if you walk the boardwalk at the Congaree National Park. But retired DNR wildlife biologist John Cely who has explored the Park extensively, you might enjoy his blogs (at Friends of the Congaree Swamp) had found large cypress inaccessible except by boat and took Professor Dave Stahle, the world’s expert on bald cypress, to that area.

I attended an outdoor lecture at the Congaree National Park last month, an appropriate site as Dave Stahle, Professor of Geography at the University of Arkansas, and the world’s authority on bald cypress gave the talk, and the Park is home to the state-record holding cypress tree. Stahle takes very small and minimally damaging core samples from trees and studies them to age trees and document clim...

If you feel cramped or overwhelmed, you should visit the Congaree National Park right outside of Columbia. Of its 26,000 acres, the core protected area is fifteen thousand acres.

"Amaryllis" have hollow stems and you need to take certain steps if using them as cut flowers.

There are a zillion different amaryllis cultivars out there – a plethora of colors and flower shapes – singles or doubles, extra large or some smaller options. They make the best show in a garden if grouped and need about a foot of space between each large-sized bulb.

In mid-spring when all danger of frost is over, you can move your potted amaryllis plants outside to a partly shaded area.

In most parts of South Carolina, holiday amaryllis bulbs can be added to your garden or the front of shrub beds when all chance of frost is over. For successful transplanting, keep the indoor plant healthy and growing after it flowers to replenish or build back that bulb.

If you have amaryllis bulbs (actually the genus is Hippeastrum but we’re never going to call them that) blooming in your house over the holidays, you can take some steps to keep them healthy.

The magnificent flowering plants we call amaryllis, so popular as indoor plants during the holidays, really aren’t in the genus Amaryllis but rather Hippeastrum.

Hickory tree leaves are the larval food source of two hundred moths or butterflies; and one is particular is spectacular in both the larval and adult stage.

For people, shelling them is a laborious process and the tools used include hammers, vises, and a peculiar item called the Texas York Nut Sheller.

It's hard to harvest at home.

Twenty some odd years ago, Edward and I dug up a hickory seedling on his family’s farm. The foot tall seedling had a six-foot long tap root that fortunately took a turn and didn’t go straight down. We brought it home and heeled it in near the house.

One of the most beautiful of fall trees is the hickory. With leaves the color of slightly browned butter it is quite a standout.

Black cottonwood, Populas balsamifera, is a species variation of cottonwood that grows from the western tip of Canada down to Montana and through part of Texas.

Cottonwoods, Populus deltoides, are dioecious, male flowers and female flowers are found on separate trees. The common name comes from the incredible mass of fluff that the female seed pods produce when they open. The seeds are tiny and the cottony material containing them is a great dispersal method.

I personally have never seen a cottonwood in any other setting but they can grow in a myriad of conditions, making them good trees for reclamation sites.

The Friends of the Congaree Swamp is a conservation organization that plans trail cleanups, makes recommendations to South Carolina DHEC when appropriate, and is dedicated to the conservation of this treasured part of South Carolina’s ecology; the newsletters they share keep us abreast of current affairs and upcoming opportunities.

Our state has lost a remarkable citizen, Charleston gardener and hostess Patti McGee. Her love of gardening originated under her mother’s tutelage in Marion, South Carolina. Her husband Peter was supportive of constant tweaking and additions to their Anson Street property. McGee’s inquisitive mind and love of new people as well as plants, made her beloved by both the artistic and gardening communi...

The recently deceased Patti McGee was known as a gracious hostess and accomplished gardener not only in South Carolina.

If you go to Clemson’s Home and Garden Information Center and search for "Selecting a Christmas Tree, Fact sheet 1750," you will find a list of all types of trees and tell you the complexity or lack of fragrance, how strong the branches are, shades of green with certain hues, and how well the needles hold on.

If you search “South Carolina Christmas Tree Association,” you’ll find ways of locating a farm near you. Click on “Member Farms” for the address, hours, types of trees available, and other services like premade garlands.

If you get a locally grown tree, the carbon footprint is as small as a reindeer’s print in the snow. On the other hand, artificial trees are made of plastic, and the carbon footprint travels from the oil fields to the manufacturer, the retailer and to your home.

When my children were little, going to get a Christmas tree was a great family adventure. With eleven-foot ceilings, we wanted a great big tree and kept a bamboo pole as a guide and we’d strap it to the top of the car to take in the field with us.

This plant's unusual leaves, similar in texture and appearance to yucca, are thick and stringy and deer and rabbits tend to avoid it – remember nothing is absolutely deer proof, but you certainly couldn’t go wrong trying it in your pollinator garden.