My Heart, Hart

Hart Dumpling,

Come out, Come out wherever you are!!! What are you up to these days? Haven't heard much from you and you are sorely missed.

Yup!

I keep hoping for a Hart check-in at the roll call.

It seems very weird to have Hart, of all gardeners to be missing.

Now of course, Critter hasn't checked in either.

It's been soo inspirational to hear about all of us. Of course, we haven't heard from you yet, either, Wrightie. Hint, hint! Tell us about your garden! Please!!!!

Blessings and warm hugs,
Elf

Didn't you know that I'm a shy one, Elf? :)

Yeah. Shy is understandable; but we love you and want to hear all about you.

Come out, come out, and tell us about yourself.

I really do think that it's a hard thing to do for some of us, but I also think that knowing a little about each other adds so much o our little community.

Think about how much is add when we meet up for a swap, or a tea party, or even share a favorite recipe.

:)

Hugs!
Elf

hart- critter relayed a baby white lilac to me that you had last spring and I forgot. It's loaded with nice plump green buds!!

That reminds me ... Hart, I brought back some cuttings from NYS last Fall. One of them is a syringa / mock orange that I got from my late grandmother's home. I remember chatting a little with you about mock orange a while back - are you growing it now?

I'm around. I've just been busy. Not doing much in the garden but I've been trying to get seeds ordered for my vegetable garden this year. I'm having fun poring over all the seed catalogs.

I should pass on, I ordered from Fedco and Nichols Garden this year and was very pleased with both places. If you're looking for seeds, they have fantastic prices, Fedco especially. Some of the seeds there were only 60 cents a packet. Free shipping if you order $30 worth and they have a nice selection of flower seeds as well as lots of vegetables.

Sally, so glad to hear your white lilac is doing well. Wait until it's big enough to start blooming - you'll be so happy. It has very double blooms and they have a great scent. The whole yard smells wonderful when mine is in bloom. They have a much stronger scent than the old timey light purple ones.

Wrightie, syringa is lilac. Mock orange is philadelphus. You will love it. If there's any shrub that's even more heavenly scented than lilac is mock orange. I have two kinds - the old timey mock orange and another one that has huge flowers about 2 inches across. You'll have to get some cuttings from the one with the big flowers next time we have a swap. It's just beautiful in bloom and of course has a scent that will drive you wild.

Mock orange, like lilacs, are very tough. They're very drought tolerant and don't require a lot of care. Heck, they really don't require any care except after a few years you may want to cut them back (do this right after blooming) if they're getting too huge. Don't prune when they're young and small.

Let's see, what else. I got a great catalog in the mail the other day - Plants of the Southwest. Lots of flowers that thrive in dry conditions. Most of the seeds are $2-2.50.They have seeds for a lot of the things that are sold as plants at High Country Gardens that I've been lusting after for ages. Gobs of penstemons. And Chantell, they have seeds for a couple of hardy cactus.

I'll be interested to hear what you're ordering and planting.

The syringa that I was referring to is Philadelphus coronarius -- but does go by "Mock Orange" and "Sweet Syringa." I did also bring back white lilac cuttings from her garden. I have them all potted up (potted in September, I believe, and putting out new growth by October) and are currently in a very protected and fairly sunny area, with a leaf mulch over them. Fingers crossed that they survive. I will definitely pass on one of each to you!

Speaking of future swaps, I'm wondering if anyone close to DC would be interested in hosting the Spring Swap ... I may start a new thread to pose that question.

I'm out of edits for the day, so will post links on the mock orange aka syringa here,
http://www.oldhouseweb.com/gardening/garden/01700686.shtml

I also found this quote during a web search, "The name syringa was formerly used for the mock orange of the saxifrage family, and the butterfly bush (see buddleia) is commonly called "summer lilac." This makes sense given the my grandmother was born in the 1890's -- she was a fine gardener; she and her family called the [mock orange] shrub, but called the lilacs ... er ... "lilacs" lol I will wait until my puny sticks leave out and flower before trying to identify which flavor it really is.

Lilacs are one of my all time favorite shrubs. I've had a purple one in the ground for two years now and am hoping that this will be the year that it finally blooms.

I've never heard it called syringa. I wonder why? It doesn't look like a lilac at all.

If yours don't make it, let me know. I always have rooted babies around the white lilacs here and can give you plenty of mock orange cuttings.

Almost forgot - what I'm growing. Lots ot tomatoes, corn, beans, greens, cucumbers, peppers although I don't grow those from seeds because I can't give them enough warmth early, broccoli, cabbage, onions. I'd really like to order a few things from the Plants of the Southwest folks. I'm still in catalog drool mode though. LOL

This message was edited Feb 2, 2008 10:21 PM

It's because you are too young! My grandmother called it a syringa, so her daughter called it that as well ... and that is how it was described to me when I was in NY last September. I thought it strange because syringa = lilac to me, too, but after a little research I discovered the history.

When I lived in Sapporo, Japan, our main park downtown (Sapporo Odori) was famous for being lined in Tree Lilacs. Good lawd, Spring in Sapporo, when the lilacs are in bloom is sheer heaven!!! http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/3716478101/flower/e_lilacs_Odori.htm

My grandmothers were probably older than yours and I never heard them call it anything other than mock orange. Maybe it's a northern thing. No matter what you call them, they're wonderful shrubs.

I'll bet that's wonderful! There's one very old house on Route 11 north of Winchester that has massive old lilacs - bigger than the old one I have here and mine is a monster - all along the road in front of the house. It's so pretty when they're blooming and I'll bet the scent in that yard would send you into a tizzy.

My favorite, though, is a dark purple one planted in the yard of an old (1700s) house in Front Royal. It droops down over a white picket fence and is just breathtaking.

We had some huge ones at my childhood home as well and they are possibly my most favorite plant of all time. The scent is divine, though I do wish that they would flower for longer periods of time.