Comments on Gardening With Grace: IT'S BLOOMING !!

Wow! The word has gotten out! 42 comments and coun...

2010-01-17T17:32:36.781-08:00

Wow! The word has gotten out! 42 comments and counting. Congratulations on your very well-earned blogging success.

I remember reading about this plant not too long a...

2010-01-17T06:53:17.517-08:00

I remember reading about this plant not too long ago and thought about trying it here even though we are in zone 7. Like you, I'm in denial. I love the glossy leaves and the blooms remind me of sweet olive. Very pretty.

Holy Moely ? haha I would do a Three Stooges routi...

2010-01-16T11:01:22.667-08:00

Holy Moely ? haha
I would do a Three Stooges routine if I could sitting here in my celestial patterned pajamas cooking Boston Baked beans from scratch mind you ! .. I only wish I had a fragrant shrub to cut some branches and have a heavenly plant smell to go with the beans ? haha
Right now in the pot they are safe until we eat them ? .. Love the berries too Grace .. an all purpose shrub for sure !
Joy

I am looking at the foliage and flowers, and I can...

2010-01-16T07:26:21.998-08:00

I am looking at the foliage and flowers, and I can almost sense the love and care that have been taking place... ~bangchik

I have always liked the look of sweet box but have...

2010-01-15T16:04:01.029-08:00

I have always liked the look of sweet box but haven't planted any because I was afraid they wouldn't like our hot summers. But I have seen so many posts lauding its great smell that i am tempted to try one and see how it does.

You never fail to elicit wonder and a big dose of...

2010-01-15T09:00:51.578-08:00

You never fail to elicit wonder and a big dose of laughter. I am so happy for your bloomnin' success.
Rosey

Oh I hope mine is next. I always tell people who a...

2010-01-15T07:06:27.658-08:00

Oh I hope mine is next. I always tell people who ask about what to plant to include one of these, they bloom just when you need a little pick me up in the garden. I have one by my front steps so I can appreciate it every time I come and go. I also have one quite neglected in the back yard near the section of my yard where the weeds are threatening to win the war, and I've had to aggressively pick bulb infested soil from among its roots. I have to hand it to that sarcacoca. It is tough, tough, tough, and survived more than I could expect from a plant. I just last fall planted some of the ground cover variety, I'm hoping that takes off well. And then there's the one that got away. I saw one at a plant sale with extra large golden leaves. Why, why did I leave that one behind.
Yes, I am a fan!

Glad the sweet box is chasing the stinkiness away!...

2010-01-14T21:32:32.868-08:00

Glad the sweet box is chasing the stinkiness away! I noticed mine getting started (rhymes with...) last weekend, it was so powerful that the scent wafted around from the back of the house to the front! I have quite a few, they are so easy and I used to take them for granted but not anymore. They just need shade, as the sad, yellowed one I dug up and gave away truly showed from its years in too much sun. Oh, your post reminds me to go look at my Daphne, I haven't even checked it once this winter, how remiss!

oooh, you tricked us with the dascia! That shru...

2010-01-14T18:30:40.093-08:00

oooh, you tricked us with the dascia!

That shrub is great! you get that nice foliage, fragrant winter flowers AND those gorgeous dark berries - and it grows in bad crap soil? What a winner!

wow grace your sweet box is blooming, i love that ...

2010-01-14T14:52:27.242-08:00

wow grace your sweet box is blooming, i love that scent-its heavenly! i'll trade ya some plumeria blooms for just one whiff :)

i love the first photo of that diascia, its beautiful and it really draws you in....wow!

I sometimes think I've 'died and gone to heaven' w...

2010-01-14T11:08:41.982-08:00

I sometimes think I've 'died and gone to heaven' when I take a virtual tour of your gardens. :) Of all the google apps invented, when do you suppose we'll get the fragrance app? Your descriptions are lovely though it makes me long for the real thing. (And, I'm not talkin' cabbage farts!)

I've seen some sweetbox in catalogs that are suppo...

2010-01-14T10:36:17.977-08:00

I've seen some sweetbox in catalogs that are supposedly hardy to zone 5, with protection. Maybe S. confusa or something? Yours is gorgeous. I'm definitely going to try this shrub in my yard, though it will probably look crappy, and not the good crappy ;-), by this time of year. My hellebores look like the place inspired by their name, poor things. New spring foliage will make them all better, though.

All the way at the end of the post and I'm still s...

2010-01-14T08:36:53.340-08:00

All the way at the end of the post and I'm still side-tracked by that dainty pink diascia. How pretty is she? Okay, back to the topic at hand ~ how wonderful to have something in bloom outdoors right now. I wonder if it's hardy here (in zone 5?) If so, it would probably be months behind yours... sigh. Enjoy the good fragrance and hopefully the offensive one will dissipate quickly! Reading posts from gardeners in warmer zones gives me hope that spring will arrive ~ we'll just have to live thru the blooms in your gardens until it does.
PS What a mess the comedy situation is ~ I can't see a good solution now for anybody?

Grace, This is a beauty and knowing it has a delic...

2010-01-14T07:52:22.434-08:00

Grace, This is a beauty and knowing it has a delicious fragrance makes it even more attractive to add to a garden. I fear that zone denial plants in my garden might have been killed by the single digit temps we had this past two weeks. gail

P.S. I meant to tell you that I inherited a lovel...

2010-01-14T07:34:40.756-08:00

P.S. I meant to tell you that I inherited a lovely houseplant, which sadly, was infested with mealy bugs. I tried your Safer's trick - sprayed and wrapped the plant with a plastic bag for 24 hours. Seems to have worked like a charm!! Thanks, Grace. :) -Liisa

Grace, Sweet Box is quite lovely, and in your area...

2010-01-14T07:32:03.516-08:00

Grace,
Sweet Box is quite lovely, and in your area, I would imagine it to be a coveted plant for its delightful fragrance in the dead of winter. I love the shiny leaves and dark berries. This goes beyond my zonal denial, but I wonder if it would be happy in a pot?

Hi Grace, I've only recently discovered your blog ...

2010-01-14T01:17:00.996-08:00

Hi Grace,
I've only recently discovered your blog - love your photos, love your writing and (sorry) love your 'stacked rock planter'. I can almost smell the Sarcoccoa!

Caught wind, eh? Ick! I was cracking up when I re...

2010-01-14T00:32:35.900-08:00

Caught wind, eh? Ick! I was cracking up when I read your opening sentences.

Love Sarcococca!

No more cabbage for awhile, however. LOL

Riz

I really wonder whether those berries are edible? ...

2010-01-13T22:21:11.368-08:00

I really wonder whether those berries are edible?
Though its tropical here, I doubt plants such as these may able to survive in my weather condition.

Heaven? I wish I had some experience like that this moment.

Hi Grace, I guess the previous owner got fed up wi...

2010-01-13T21:21:43.265-08:00

Hi Grace, I guess the previous owner got fed up with that part of the house too and put the planter in. I can't see the whole thing, but doesn't look so bad to me - what don't you like about it?

Congrats on your Sweet Box!

I can't imagine a garden without Sarcoccoca. I've ...

2010-01-13T11:58:50.959-08:00

I can't imagine a garden without Sarcoccoca. I've planted it in every garden I've ever had. What else grows in dry shade, looks good year round, smells fabulous in the winter, and comes as bushes and as groundcovers.

Deirdre

Too funny about the smell! OK, I'm envying your zo...

2010-01-13T11:06:02.363-08:00

Too funny about the smell! OK, I'm envying your zone too... Everything is frozen rock solid in New England... we barely get in the low 20s temps every day.

Hi Grace - I'm glad that you are in heaven and I a...

2010-01-13T11:01:42.555-08:00

Hi Grace - I'm glad that you are in heaven and I am communicating with an angelic creature :) I have sarcococca confusa but it has never flourished. Time to move it maybe. I can imagine the whiff from a mature plant. Will look into ruscifolia. By the way it has still not defrosted here, so I have still not been able to look for that geranium phaeum label - I have not forgotten - yet ..... :)

Wow! It's beautiful -- and I can almost imagine th...

2010-01-13T09:41:11.559-08:00

Wow! It's beautiful -- and I can almost imagine the scent. -Jean

Hi Grace, You are so funny. I love your writing ...

2010-01-13T09:16:37.095-08:00

Hi Grace,

You are so funny. I love your writing style. Isn't it moments like this when a favorite shrub blooms that makes all of it worth it?