Lisa Carter's Blog, page 40
July 30, 2013
Sneak Peek—Carolina Reckoning Book Trailer
One week before release, here’s a look at the book trailer for Carolina Reckoning.
What do you think?
For more info, visit lisacarterauthor.com.
July 25, 2013
The Lowdown on Claire
For more info on Claire, visit lisacarterauthor.com.
July 22, 2013
A Barefoot Kind of Summer—The Lowdown on Mike
For more info on Mike, visit lisacarterauthor.com.
July 18, 2013
July 15, 2013
Annuals in the Southern Garden
Two of my Favorite Annuals
Johnny-jump-up—Viola tricolor
Full sun or part shade. Self sow. Can be invasive but oh so sweet for late winter color with their cheery purple/yellow faces.
Spicy Globe Basil—cultivar of Oscimum basilicum minimum—Elegant rounded edging to front of border, also great container plant. Plant after last danger of frost. Edible and harvested like other sweet basils.
What’s growing in your garden? What are your favorite annuals?
July 11, 2013
Splendor of the Grass—Lawn Care Tips
In the interests of the guys among us, my husband offers these Grass Tips for cool-season tall fescue lawns in the transition zone of North Carolina:
Fall
• aeration and overseeding – core aerate and overseed with turf type tri-fescue blend used in transition zone of North Carolina at a rate of 8 to 10 lbs per thousand square feet
• water – keep seedbed/soil wet but not over saturated to point of standing water
• seed germination ¬– can take anywhere from five days for first sign of growth up to fourteen to thirty days to germinate
• first mowing after reseeding – make sure seedbed/soil is dry before mowing, always keep mower blade sharp-most importantly at this stage, and set mower on the highest setting
• apply starter fertilizer to stimulate seed germination, development and color
Winter
• most important fertilization time to promote root development in the transition zone of North Carolina
• late fall/early winter is when the lawn’s root system is most actively growing
• fertilize with 50% slow release and post emergent weed control to help thicken lawn, suppress spring disease issues and provide early green-up
Spring
• apply crabgrass pre-emergent fertilizer to green-up lawn and control weed germination
• spot spray germinated weeds by hand and repeat application in five to six weeks
• use a few drops of dish detergent in any liquid form of fungicide, pesticide or herbicide for an inexpensive sticker agent to keep treatment on blades of grass
• maintain mowing height at 3½” for optimum results, this will help soil retain moisture and keep sun from germinating weeds in among the grass
• the earlier you start mowing in the season the better weed control you will have
Summer
• apply last fertilizer treatment of the season in May with post-emergent weed control
• water lawn in early morning before evaporation is at a peak
• water deep and infrequently, not light and every day
• turf type tri-fescue lawns need one to one and a half inches of water a week
• a blue tinge to your lawn means lack of water/high humidity and lack of air circulation can lead to fungal diseases such as dollar spot and brown patch
• apply granular lime as needed in July based on local soil test recommendations
How’s your lawn looking? Any tips you’d like to share?
July 8, 2013
Seagrove Pottery—A North Carolina Handicraft Tradition
NC Handi
craft Tradition—Seagrove Pottery
Seagrove, NC is known as the pottery capital of North Carolina. Proud North Carolinians boast “the world”, too. The pottery community encompasses not just the small town of Seagrove, but over 100 potteries near the North Carolina Pottery Highway, including Star, Robbins, Whynot and Happy Hollow. Visitors from around the world venture to Seagrove, home to the NC Pottery Center. The Seagrove area boasts the longest continual history of pottery making in the U.S. Visitors can also explore the rural backroads and visit potters in their workshop studios.
The Seagrove pottery tradition traces back before the American Revolution to English and German immigrants who produced functional, glazed earthenware. The area prospered due to the high quality of clay and access to main transportation routes until the advent of modern food containers. Whisky jugs were an important source of income until Prohibition. The industry revived due to Northern tourist art connoiseurrs. The Jugtown Pottery is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Seagrove Pottery Festival is held each year, the weekend before Thanksgiving. Local families—Cole, Auman, Owen, Teague and Albright—are 8th and 9th generation potters who continue North Carolina’s ongoing pottery traditions.
Seagrove has something to offer both the serious collector and the casual buyer. http://www.ncfolk.org/nctravel/seagrovepottery.aspx
July 5, 2013
Favorite Shrubs in the Southern Garden
Nikko blue Hydrangea—Hydrangea macrophylla—Zone 6-9
Part shade. Blue flowers in acid soil, pink in alkaline. My absolute favorite shrub of all time. Takes me back to summer evenings on my grandmother’s porch. A simpler time. So blue it might make you cry for the sheer beauty of it.
Carolina allspice—Calycanthus floridus—Zone 5-9
Sun to part shade. Fruity fragrance. Plant where you can enjoy fragrance. Foundation planting or border path in woodland garden.
Daphne—Daphne burkwoodii—Zone 4-7
Small, slow growing. Blue green. Fragrant white blossoms. Full sun to light shade. Great foundation plant.
Forsythia—Forsythia intermedia—Zone 5-8
Full sun. Informal hedge border. Give lots of room to enjoy arching branches which turn golden leafed in fall.
Camellia—Camellia sasanqua—Zone 7-9
Evergreen. Glossy. Must-have for winter blooms. Pick from white, pink, red, to salmon. Full sun.
Gardenia—Gardenia jasminoides—Zone 8-9
Rounded, elegant, evergreen, glossy dark green leaves. Highly fragrant. Can use as border plantings. Quintessential to Southern garden come summer.
Mountain laurel—Kalmia latifolia—Zone 5-9
Full sun or deep shade, keep soil cool in hotter location. Evergreen, flowers dark to pale pink or white, bloom late spring. Nothing says Blue Ridge Mountains like mountain laurel. Thanks Mike—Carolina Reckoning—for reminding us.
Rhododendron—Rhododendron maximum—Zone 4-8
Another mountain favorite. Rose pink or purple pink flowers. Mid summer blooms. Native to woodlands of NC mountain region. Thanks again Mike.
See more behind-the-scenes photos of Carolina Reckoning on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/lisacoxcarter/carolina-reckoning/.
What are your favorite garden shrubs?
July 2, 2013
BFFs—Celebrating Friendship
Who is your BFF?
Alison and Val in Carolina Reckoning have this kind of friendship. A friendship with lots of backstory.
Sometimes there are friends for the season of the road we travel. Other friends are like a bright thread of hope and love that wend through all our days.
I have been so richly blessed with friends to share life’s journey. Here’s to you—you know who you are.
I never think of Star Wars or the NC State Fair without remembering my BFF in high school.
I will never forget being with my mommy friends at a MOPS meeting when the first plane hit the World’s Trade Center on 9/11 and the phones starting ringing. And our world changed forever.
I’ll never forget the friendships of my youth. Or as Anne of Green Gables puts it, “There is no bond more lasting than that formed by the mutual confidences of that magic time when youth is slipping from the sheath of childhood and beginning to wonder what lies for it beyond those misty hills that bound the golden road.”
A friend who has stuck by my side through difficult pregnancies, a miscarriage and the adventure of raising daughters.
Friends who have come into my life because of the writing journey and how blessed I am for it.
Thank you all for being my friend. You continue to enrich my life.
I’d love to hear about your own BFFs and what that friendship has meant to you.
Remember—It takes a long time to grow old friends.
And my prayer for you—May your house always be too small to hold all of your friends.
June 27, 2013
Garden Fragrances
Garden Fragrances in Carolina Reckoning
Time for a Calgon moment. Feast your eyes. Take a deep breath. And pretend you are in a happy place.
Magnolia
Lavender
Lilac
Plumeria
Bourbon Roses
Exhale slowly through your nostrils.
You may return now to your regularly scheduled day.
See more behind-the-scenes photos of Carolina Reckoning on Pinterest at http://pinterest.com/lisacoxcarter/ca....
What are your favorite garden fragrances?
