Water Smart Landscape Challenge and Oaks on the move

How cool is this the City of Savannah is letting the public vote on which garden design we would like to see used for a face lift to Bryan Square on Hutchinson Island. The Water Smart Landscape Challenge is sponsored by the city of Savannah and the Water Smart program of the Environmental Protection Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

Thirteen landscape designers and architects from around the state submitted designs for a sustainable, water-efficient garden for the site. A panel of judges including staff of the Chatham County Metropolitan Planning Commission, UGA Cooperative Extension, and the City of Savannah, as well as members of the Savannah Tree Foundation and Friends of Oatland Island narrowed the pool down to three finalists. The public will be able to vote on their favorite garden design at www.waterSmartgardenvote.com till May 8, 2009.

The winning landscape designer will be awarded a $35,000 contract with the city of Savannah to install their garden in Bryan Square.

I think this is a great idea but I'm having a problem deciding which one I like the best. I see something in each that I love.

Go check them out for yourselves I would love to hear what ya'll think .


Finalist #1 - Kern-Coleman and Company



Finalist #2 - Thomas & Hutton Engineering Co.


Finalist #3 - Witmer-Jones-Keefer

Live oaks replanted in Ellis Square


The live oak tree is laid on its side on the flatbed truck for the journey to Ellis Square for transplanting. (Steve Bisson/Savannah Morning News)

This article By Lesley Conn and picture by Steve Bisson is from our local paper you can see more pictures here ~ The Savannah Morning News

In less than two hours Tuesday, work crews using a crane swung two 25-foot live oak trees from flatbed trailers and eased them into new homes at the southeast corner of Ellis Square at West Congress and Barnard streets. Combined, the weight of the trees totaled 27.5 tons. They were the first of five mature trees that will be re-located this week, to be joined by two older trees and eight younger oaks with smaller canopies. Work is going faster than expected, officials said, allowing the city to shorten its street-closure plans. Bryan Street will be closed today from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and Congress Street will reopen at 11 a.m. The city does not plan to close any streets Thursday.

The arboreal rearranging is part of a public/private partnership to restore one of the city's six original squares and make it a welcoming spot for tourists and residents. A visitors center, restrooms and a plaza with spray fountains for children are expected to be finished possibly in November, said city park and tree director David White. The city is paying $20,000 for each of the seven mature trees. "We wanted an immediate impact on the site," White said. "We didn't want to wait several years to get the shade."

Walt Harper is chairman of the park and tree commission and a member of the Savannah-Chatham County Historic Site and Monument Commission. He said the goal was to have the square blend in as much as possible with its surroundings. Harper pointed to trees south of the square and in City Market, where they're about the size of those being transplanted.

"It had to do more with wanting the square to look more natural instead of planting small saplings that would have to grow into the square," he said. "It would make it look like it's been here awhile." The trees were relocated from a grassy area near Truman Parkway and Victory Drive. They needed to be removed, city officials said, because they were interfering with drainage in Casey Canal.

The tree-moving drew mixed reactions from members of the Ellis Square Merchants Association. Business owners are frustrated by a yearlong delay in the project, by road and sidewalk closures and, lately, by dirt blowing into shops from the square. Association President Michael J. Meeks and Nicole Curreri, the group's secretary, agree that once it's done, the four-year project will be a wonderful attraction that should bring in business. Curreri, who owns Kitchens on the Square on Barnard, calls spending $140,000 for more mature trees "pretty outrageous." "Patience is a virtue," she said. "Any gardener knows for $10,000, you can get a smaller tree that's easier to plant. I can wait (for it to grow). I've waited this long."

Meeks doesn't fault the city there. The decision to spend the money for the larger trees was made long ago when the economy was humming, he said. "With smaller trees, the aesthetics wouldn't have been as dynamic," he said. "I think the mature trees are the way to go."



A little back ground on Ellis Square.

This is one of the original four squares, laid out in 1733. It was always referred to as Marketplace Square because that was its use. The square was named for Henry Ellis, second Royal Governor. On the West side of the square, the City Market complex extends for two blocks over to Franklin Square. This is the site of the Old City Market which was demolished in the early 1950s. The loss of this structure upset residents to the extent that efforts began to prevent further losses of irreplaceable buildings.
The entire original square, on Barnard Street between W. Bryan and W. Congress Streets, became a city parking garage in the 1950s. The City is currently redeveloping the original site. The parking garage was torn down in 2006. A new public square will take its place. The area will also have a hotel, residential units, and 50,000 square feet of commercial space, built on top of an underground parking garage.

I'm so proud of Savannah and can't wait till both Squares are finished .

I placed my order with Prairland Herbs yesterday and can't wait till it arrives I should have mentioned that if you sign up for their newsletter The Coneflower Press you will receive a 10% discount on your first order.

Hope the weather is as perfect in your neck of the woods as it is here !!!
hugs, Cherry

A few wondeful things



MY FIRST wonderful thing for today is ....
This wonderful Healing wand that I won a week or so ago. When it came in the mail I checked it out and thought Cool !
There was also a sample bar of soap and a sample bar of shampoo that I used and fell in love with Hubby loved the way the soap left me feeling oh so soft .. Well over the weekend I stuck my finger to the burner on the stove and it hurt all the way to my toes . Not sure how or why I would do something so stupid but it happens often with this girl .. lol ... so my first thought was to go break a piece of Aloe then I saw the healing wand and thought why not ... I rubbed it on the burn and it was instant relief no blister, no more pain nothing ... It was like it never happen since then I have used it on every scrape, poke, bite and itch and it has handled them all ..

This is a product that I don't want to be without and I can't wait to try some of the other items that Prairieland Herbs Carry... You have to go checkout their web site and I highly recommend you order some of these wonderful products for yourself especially the Healing wand.
I have my shopping list together now to place that order ..

MY SECOND wonderful thing ...
Miss Lois's Amaryllis are blooming and oh so pretty !!!


MY THIRD wonderful thing is ...
a new to me magazine called Garden & Gun I have to say when I saw this magazine at the Expo my very first thought was WHAT ! How are these two things related ? Then my next thought was DIRT PRINCESS .. I'm not sure for her which comes first gardening or hunting but they go hand and hand for many women & men. I don't hunt but I do love to fish and after reading cover to cover Feb/Mar & April/May issues I'm hooked it has a lot of stuff to feed the Southern Soul ...

And my last wonderful thing for today is the weather in Savannah .. Pure Perfection ! For 4 straight days and Mr. Weatherman say's we get to have a few more so I have been outside and loving every second of it .. just came in to get my belly full and say hello to all of ya'll but now it's time to get back out there and plant up something pretty ya'll have a wonderful day !

Oh wait one more wonderful thing fresh cut grass !!
The neighbors just finished cutting their grass and it is one of my favorite smells someone bottle it please ..

hugs, Cherry
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Earth day with Miss Lois

And how did ya'll spend Earth day ? I took Miss Lois shopping. Look how cute she is sitting there she is 4'8 and that bench is maybe a foot high .. LOL . She is waiting on Bobbie & I to load the truck and see if there is enough room for her to buy more petunias and yes we were able to get 3 more trays in for her. Bet she was outside before day break planting .. lol





I picked up a few things. Those of you that visited last summer know I love Cuphea's I found two new ones PW ~ Flamenco Tango and PW ~ Flamenco Cha Cha and they are yum yummy..
I also picked up a Iresine Blazin Rose ~ Blood leaf that I can't wait to see how it does and a red butterfly bush I don't recall ever seeing one before maybe once it blooms I will recognize it. I also picked up some saliva's , double wave petunias and a few other goodies .
Have a wonderful day ya'll I'm off to play
hugs, Cherry

P. S Miss Carla Anne Mr. doggie wasn't around yesterday : )

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Fun at the Expo

Good morning the weather has been fabulous so I have been outside from daylight to dark and haven't had a chance to share all the fun Bobbie & I had at the Savannah Garden Expo on Friday. The first thing we noticed was the new set up, everything looked really pretty with lots of flowers everywhere the second thing we noticed was that there was lots of new vendors and that a lot of our favorite vendor that we have shopped with in the past where not here this year which was disappointing. We didn't buy much but we did walk away with some really cool new ideas, met some really great people and enjoyed each others company. A day with Bobbie is always a treasure. Thank you girlfriend love ya !



I got to meet new blogger's Miss Annie & David of ... Hey Plant Man!
They have Mitch Armstrong Exotic Tropical Plant Nursery in St. Pete Florida.
It was so much fun meeting them they were very busy. Their display was really nice lots of different types of plants and very colorful . They had the really hot new plant Joey from Australia and I bet they didn't take any of them back to St. Pete with them.. People were grabbing them up pretty quick .. I hope they went home with nothing more than sweet memories, sore feet and a pocketful of money .. We want ya'll to come back next year .. lol
Go check out their new blog and if you are near the nursery or the market stop in and tell them Cherry say's hi.



Coach/ Master gardener Vince Dooley
The Top Dawg in Georgia always !!
We love our absolutely gorgeous hunk of man Coach Mark Richt
but Coach Dooley is also a gardener !!!
Check out his garden from a piece in the Atlanta Journal - Constitution OH and that is the newbie hot plant JOEY in the planter beside him.



A few things I picked up .. wooden bees, a three tier stand that I think is coming in the house to use as a plate stand during the holiday's it is multilevel and adjustable. A hanging thing to hold flowers which I bought for the front porch but it ended up at the back door, a cute little sign ..lol (you may have to click on the picture to read it )
and a few plants. This blue indigo is really pretty.

We had a wonderful day and I promise to share more pictures soon.
hugs, Cherry

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The end of our tour !




This was my favorite home on the tour it had drapes to die for beautiful art work and each room was a designers paradise. The bathrooms were grand mirrors everywhere. In the parlor they had 2 beautiful crystal water coolers one was filled with strawberries, fresh mint, water and ice the other was filled with cucumber slices, water and ice not only were they very refreshing they were stunning to look at.

Magnolia Hall
Adjacent to Savannah's magnificent Forsyth Park is historic Magnolia Hall, the guesthouse of the Savannah College of Art and Design. Built in 1878, the three-story, 13-bedroom mansion offers well-appointed private quarters, verdant gardens and airy verandas affording sweeping views of the 21-acre park and surrounding Victorian neighborhood.

Rehabilitated by Savannah College of Art & Design, Magnolia Hall reflects the college's leadership in adaptively reusing many of the city's architectural treasures. These architectural icons are located throughout the National Historic Landmark District and Victorian districts of Savannah.

Designed in 1878 by New York architect Abraham J. Snedeker, Magnolia Hall was built as a single-family home for cotton magnate Jacob Guerard Heyward (1844–88). Raised in Beaufort, South Carolina, Heyward attended school in Charleston and served in the first artillery battalion of the Confederate Army. Following the Civil War, he married Pauline de Caradeuc, whose personal diary from the years 1863–88 was published as A Confederate Lady Comes of Age. Heyward later became one of Savannah's most successful cotton factors.

In 1984, the home was transformed into an inn. Several noted literary figures have been associated with Magnolia Hall, including Pulitzer Prize-winning Poet Laureate Conrad Aiken, who was born in the house in 1889. Novelist John Berendt made the residence his adopted Savannah home in the 1980s while writing the New York Times best seller Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil.
SCAD acquired the inn in 2005 for use by visiting artists and other guests of the college.
You can read the entire story here on the schools web site.

SCAD has given Savannah it's downtown beauty back we are very proud they chose Savannah as their home back in 1978 what they have accomplished in the years since is simply amazing and a true gift to our city.

and then we had to walk through Forsyth Park



Did you see the huge Oak in the slide show ? it is almost 300 years old .
Here's some great info about it. Savannah off the beaten path

Now I would like to ask what you think about these three gardens you can kinda see the third one in the picture behind the hot pink bench. These homes are side by side and were all built in the 1850's so they have very similar facade but checkout how different each yard is landscaped.. Personally none of them appealed to me and if I had too see that hot pink/orange combo every morning I would scream .. lol
It was fun to see but you can touch that hot pink vase on the balcony from the front door of the other house .

This is what makes Savannah so great you never know what you are going to see !
From Collages

From Collages
Ok that's it the end of our tour sure hope everyone enjoyed it as much as Beth and I did there is another tour that starts tomorrow it is the NOGS tour along with the Savannah Garden & Antique Expo We won't be doing this tour because we will be to busy enjoying the show and trying to make more space in the car for all the stuff I know we will be buying .. lol

Oh Bobbie I'll see you in the morning ... are you ready to shop girlfriend ???



A little more of Savannah

Multipetal Clivia




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Aren't I a beauty !!
I don't know what type of Clivia this is but it is very special to me.

My brother was given a little piece of this Clivia from a friend of his many years ago who is a Professor at Georgia Southern University it took about 3 years for his plant to bloom and from the moment I saw it I never stopped begging for a piece and he would just smile and say nope ... He was enjoying having something that mom & I didn't have. It was always a big thing when we visited with each other that the 3 of us would walk around and show off whatever was blooming. He would fuss up a storm if he found out that momma had given me even a seed if he didn't get one too .. lol . One afternoon last fall as I was leaving from a visit he walked me to my car and put this Clivia in the back. I was so surprised and thrilled .. I finally had a piece of my own! I brought it home knowing that it would be a few years before I would see any blooms but about a month ago I noticed a stalk coming up with buds on it and my heart went to my feet. All I could think of was oh how I wish I could show him, oh how I wish I could rub it in how quickly mine bloomed . I ran and got the phone and called my mom to tell her.
I made her go outside and check the piece he had given her and her's also had a stalk of buds.

This was one of those sweet sad moments I couldn't help but think this was a little gift from heaven. I have been checking everyday to see how many buds have open and today every single bud was wide open .. The bright orange flowers seemed to be screaming PARTY !!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Bubba thank you for this beautiful gift !
love ya and miss ya bunches
hugs, Cherry

Weekend goodies

This weekend was one of those that had way to many things going on.
Jane Fishman's annual plant swap
( We are so glad to see Jane back writing for the Savannah Morning News
)
The spring plant sale out at the Botanical Gardens on the Southside

A butterfly garden plant sale out at the Bamboo farm with a neighborhood yard sale very close by and the strawberries were ready to pick ... plus the hubby asked me to go fishing.

Oh my what's a girl to do !!!!

Well this girl invite her mom & sister in law to go to the yard sales and Bamboo farm butterfly plant sale. The yard sales netted 4 Janet Evanovich books for 2 bucks and that's it !! : (

The plant sale was great they had lots of goodies but when I got home I realized that some of the plants were not labeled and even though I know, I know these plants I cannot for the life of me remember what they are ... The one on the top left and on the bottom both have the word fire in their name and then the begonia.



HELP WHO ARE WE !!!



Hubby went fishing Saturday & Sunday.
can you say FISH FRY !!!!

Miss Pris and I enjoyed some Stephine Plum shannagin's



and here is some of the other goodies that I have picked up
and have now had to put in the garage because ...
THEY say we are going into the 30's tonight Dang it !!

an Angels Trumpet, Duranta Repens, Daphne, 2 Mandavilla's, lots of Coleus, Red Caster Bean a few tomato plants that I have never heard of STUPICE and BROWN BERRY which is a cherry ( Miss Ohio I thought of you when I saw this one. ) and some herbs..

Selfheal ~ ( I haven't a clue how to use )Galangal ~ an upright ginger used in Thai cooking ( which I have never done so not sure why I bought it ) and some Lemon grass. Nice haul .. but I sure wish I could have made it to the other events Jane does another swap in the fall so I plan to be there .



and how cute is this wagon ? I so stole this idea from Miss Melanie at Old Country Gardens
go check out hers it is great! I pulled this one from the woods behind our house a few weeks ago and was debating as to what I wanted to use it for, time I saw Melanie's I started gathering all those little pieces of succulents stuck in different places and put it together and I think it turned out perfect ..

yes Beth & Jessica this is the 3 wheeled wagon that the lost/crazy woman tried to drag across my driveway.. lol

It was a great weekend now if the cold would just get on out of here so I can start planting !!!!
oh and the strawberries ... We got so excited about the plants we forgot to even drive over to the fields and pick some ... lol

Have an awesome day ya'll
hugs, Cherry