On Patience, My Favorite Fall Veggies to Grow, Potager Inspiration, and more.
No. 3 | Fall Gardening in Greenville, SC
I’m trying to be patient. I can see my future garden in my head, where now stands in its place a few 70-year-old white oaks, a dogwood, a holly tree and scattered azaleas.
(Don’t fuss at me about the trees: We have hundreds more around back. And we’re keeping the weeping Japanese maple. That was TJ’s requirement.)
It’s the south-facing spot on our new property that will get me the 6+ hours of sunlight I need to grow veggies, and a lovely potential connection to the house.
I see raised beds, an arched trellis, pea gravel.
I see a tiny bistro table and chairs, coffee in my hands, flannel. Vining tomatoes at their full height spilling over the trellis, and marigolds grown wild dropping dried flowers into the beds to re-emerge the following spring. The Japanese maple, golden. Creeping rosemary dotted with lavender flowers. Bushes of sage. Cracks filled with thyme you smell as you crush it beneath your feet.
That’s not this fall—but I can see it.
Gardening is an investment in the future. Each seed planted, but also each branch pruned. Ground broken.
We do today for what trust will be tomorrow.
Patient.
It’s never been my adjective.
But I’m learning.
For now, I’ll share a list of things I love about my little piece of earth TODAY:
Right behind an arc of camellias, there’s a 25 ft. drop, a wall of boulders that makes my the descent into the woods feel like a complete departure from anything resembling a Woodruff Road neighborhood. The previous owner carved out a little secret path, lined with hellebores and ferns, that leads to a large rock the perfect height for sitting and looking down on the woods below.
It’s not perfectly flat. The front yard is flat, which is great for the kids to play soccer or throw a football, but the land we own has lots of variety. That gets my creative juices flowing.
There are hellebores and ferns (which I was dreaming of) and mature azaleas and hydrangeas already here. Those azaleas are not my favorite, but I’m thankful for mature shrubs that I can work with rather than starting with lots of low height plants.
What are you dreaming of for your garden? What do you love today?
Fall 2022
What I’m Reading & Listening To
Take It Outside: A Guide to Designing Beautiful Spaces Just Beyond Your Door
I’m finding I distinctly enjoy garden books written by interior design experts. They may be lacking in more specialized horticultural insights, but they make up for that in photography that gets my mind churning and practical wisdom and design detail.
Fraylick Farm Blog
How to Grow a Beautiful Spring Garden When You Don't Have "Full Sun"
With an abundance of shade I’ve never had before, I’m soaking up every resource I can find about how to make the most of it. Melissa at Fraylick Farm in Traveler’s Rest shared this helpful blog post a couple of weeks ago that details one aspect I hadn’t been considering:
The concept of “winter sun.”
The Joe Gardener Show | Episode 274
Growing Cool-Season Annuals for Earlier Color and Hardier Plants
So, I try to only feature truly local resources in this newsletter, and Joe is in Atlanta. But I’m making an exception because this interview on planting flowers in the fall for better spring color taught me so much. I had to share it.
What I’m Growing
I’m about to do some fall planting, dividing and repotting:
Dividing/Repotting
Sage, rosemary and thyme. They usually last me all winter.
Direct Sowing
2 different salad lettuces, bok choy, sage, carrots, radishes and chives - Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
Garlic - In Mid-October, I’ll plant garlic from my own saved bulbs (woohoo!) - Keene Garlic, Early Italian and Chinook Red varieties
Featured Recipe: Roasted Delicata Squash and Farro Salad
from Molly at Greenville Supper Club
A recipe to bridge that late summer to early fall season. Delicious. If you’ve never tried delicata squash—do it. It’s my absolute favorite.
Instagram
#gvlgardening From Patricia (@patriciaannethomas)
I didn’t get to grow cantaloupes this year but I fully empathize with the “I hope it makes it” sentiment. Feels like it’s always something when it comes to cantaloupe. But they do start out so cute!
