I’m joining the SOS gang this week to share some recent happenings in my garden. Spring has truly sprung here and the pollen has been in full force, my sinuses cannot recall a thicker more long lasting coating of pollen. I think the February freeze inspired the oaks to flower. To travel the world via SOS – visit Jim at GardenRuminations
Artemis blasted off over my garden on its way to the moon. My husband was squealing in the back yard. It was quite a sight. We are a few hundred miles south of Cape Canaveral.
A totally different flight landed in the front garden. This is a Great White Egret easily four feet tall.
The Sweet Begonias (Begonia odorata ‘Alba’) have been very sweet this spring.
I have been picking tomatoes for a week or two. Here is a lesson in open pollination. I saved seed last year thinking I would get large yellow pear tomatoes. I got some! And some much larger pink campari style tomatoes and small red cherries. Fortunately, they are all delicious.
This is a bud on a White Bird of Paradise (Strelizia nicolai) This has been in the garden for 7 or 8 years, is at least 12 feet tall and this is the second flower! I keep going out to see if it opened yet.
Spring snow is starting on the Hawaiian Snowbush (Breynia disticha) The foliage gets a bit whiter and then goes back to green. This is a bit of a garden thugs and difficult to pull up.
That is my garden update. I’m wondering if this is the first garden rocket in SOS?
Happy Gardening!
The Shrub Queen 
Wow, that is an historic site. How exciting. And wow to the Great White Egret. I have only ever seen the little ones which appeared in the UK a few years ago. He is a handsome fellow. Fabulous to have tomatoes in April.
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Hi Liz, your peonies may be more fabulous than the tomatoes!
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You were so lucky! I would have loved to see the launch. We had egrets back in Texas, but I never had one land in the yard. You had a very exciting week.
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I know I have friends about 50 miles north that got a really good show, usually all we can see is a squiggle in the distance. I have winding shell paths I think the birds mistake them for creeks. I get herons a lot.
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Did you ever hear of Gibbs Garden in northern Georgia? Just saw it on PBS.
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Oh yes, Jim Gibbs was a generation ahead of me at UGA and a very well known high end residential landscape architect with a design/build company in Atlanta. I am not sure if his company is still around.
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The public garden he made is. I checked out the website.
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That was his swansong and retirement adventure. I think it is well endowed.
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https://gibbslandscape.com/gibbs-gardens here’s the story, his company is still there.
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Fabulous photos, all of them! How nifty to see Artemis II blasting off over your backyard–I would be squealing, too! Enjoy those delicious Tomatoes. 🙂
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Thank you. An amazing thing to witness. There is truly nothing better than homegrown tomatoes. Simple pleasures.
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It must have been fantastic to see Artemis II from your garden! And certainly deafeningly loud. Beautiful photo of the white heron, and I envy you with your first tomatoes!
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It was too far away to hear. I am enjoying the tomatoes and the birds.
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Wow, how amazing to have space rockets pass over your garden. Its certainly an improvement on aircraft taking off from Heathrow 🙂 There are cranes around here, drawn by the river and lakes. I’ve occasionally met one on dry land – I always give way, generally by going back the way I came!
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I think that was a once in a lifetime event and planes and trains pass by regularly! We have Sandhill Cranes here that are about the same size as the Egret. It is the hawks and Eagles I avoid having seen their feet!
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How cool that you witnessed that historic flight right from your yard. Gone are the days when everyone stopped and watched launches on TV. Remember school assemblies??
Cool egret visitor, they are gorgeous esp. in breeding plumage. Fun six this week!
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Yes, it made me remember gathering around the TV in the 60s.
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Oh my, that egret is scary, and looks like it might be related to the giant bird of Paradise. I should see if any of giant bird of Paradise are in bud yet.
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what an eventful week you’ve had. I love the egret and the begonia but also impressed by your tomatoes…we’ve had an awful tomato season way down under
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What a great collection of pics this week Amelia. A rocket, an egret and yellow pear tomatoes have no doubt never found themselves on one page together before! LOL! I love the yellow pear tomatoes and must keep some seed this autumn and try my luck next year.
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