I am still working hard to get ready for the Fayette County Master Gardener Garden Tour on April  30. When you are on a garden tour, getting ready seems to become your full-time job! We’ve enjoyed an early spring without a late frost (so far) and so I am pushing the envelope and planting up my containers with colorful annuals. I’ll share these “creations” soon.

Springtime in the south is glorious with dogwoods, redbuds, azaleas and camellias bursting with blooms. I’ve got lots of vivid color in my garden right now. I wish I could save it up for the garden tour, but I know other flowering plants will soon take their cues and make a spectacular entrance like rock star divas.

Here are a “few of my favorite things” blooming in my garden right now.  

Hellebores continue to perform - they've been blooming since February!

I like the combination of Hellebores and Azaleas in April.

I have several large azalea bushes near my back fence - not sure what variety but they are a beautiful pink.

I bet you've done this - found some cool little plant (like this ground cover with blue flowers) and then forgotten what it is!

Lady Banks rose on my trellis that hides the air conditioner

Snowball viburnum just starting to bloom

How can you not love the Knockout rose that starts blooming now and continues until frost!

Who needs blooms when you have a vibrant Japanese maple?

If you are in the area, please consider attending the garden tour and plant sale on April 30. Six wonderful gardens in Peachtree City, Fayetteville and Brooks will be featured. You’ll see an eclectic mix of gardens including a garden railway; a whimsical garden filled with dozens of sculptures; a mature, professionally-designed southern garden; an estate overlooking the rolling hills of a rural community; a woodland garden along a lovely stream with seven small waterfalls and my garden that features a Koi pond with an Asian flair. Take a break from the tour and stop by the master gardener plant sale where you will find hundreds and hundreds of plants at bargain prices. For more information go to Fayette Master Gardener Garden Tour and Plant Sale

Spring blooms are coming alive amidst the tombstones at historic Oakland Cemetery in Atlanta. Less than a mile from downtown, Oakland is fashioned after the charming Victorian concept of a garden cemetery, created for the living to enjoy as they visit their dear departed loved ones. The garden cemetery is the precursor of the public parks movement. Founded in 1850, Oakland became a gathering place for families to picnic, relax and experience the beauty of the gardens and the scenic vistas from this high point of 1070 feet above sea level.

Today you can still enjoy winding brick pathways, seating areas, shade trees, blooming plants and stunning views of Atlanta. If you visit Oakland in the spring, you will see cheerful tulips and other seasonal bulbs swaying in the breeze, antique roses growing on a gazebo, jasmine covering a fence and clouds of azaleas growing beneath white and pink dogwoods. Right now, many of the graves are covered in blooming phlox. Oakland is home to some of Atlanta’s premiere specimen trees and shrubs including towering oak, magnolia and cherry laurel. In fact, Oakland Cemetery is named for the impressive oaks that dot the landscape. This wonderful canopy ensures that summer temperatures in the cemetery will be 5 degrees cooler than the urban downtown.

Oakland Cemetery is hauntingly beautiful and filled with amazing mausoleums, tombstones and sculpture. But more importantly, Oakland is home to 70,000 dead, including almost 7,000 Confederate soldiers, 27 Atlanta mayors, including our first African-American Mayor, Maynard Jackson and six Georgia governors. You’ll find the graves of famous celebrities like Atlanta’s own, Margaret Mitchell, author of Gone With the Wind and golfing legend, Bobby Jones. Atlanta leaders of business and society are buried here along with thousands of common folk. 7,500 indigents are buried in Potter’s Field. This field is now a playground for frisbee and a place to picnic.

Civil War history abounds at Oakland. From the hilltop, General John B. Hood observed the Battle of Atlanta. The massive sculpture, “Lion of Atlanta,” commemorates the estimated 3,000 graves of unknown Confederate soldiers brought to Oakland from the battlefield.

The cemetery is divided into several sections, including a Jewish section and an African-American section, as well as the resting place of the Confederate soldiers. If you get a chance to visit, take one of the guided tours to learn many of the fascinating, morbid, funny and quirky stories that bring to life the history of Oakland Cemetery. For more information, go to: Oakland Historic Cemetery.

First grave in cemetery is that of Dr. Nissen who died in September 1850. The inscription notes that the doctor was afraid of being buried alive, so he requested his throat be cut prior to burial!!

From the Jewish section you see stunning view of Confederate Tower and the skyline of Atlanta.

It’s still only mid March but our warm weather is holding and I am starting to hope spring is really here. Lot of my plants are budding and blooming. I worry about a late frost, but we gardeners worry about weather conditions all the time.

Yesterday I noticed some of my Koi and gold fish slowly swimming around my ornamental pond for the first time. During the winter, the fish hide out in dark places and little nooks and crannies. When they start to appear, I know the pond temperature is warming up and it’s time to take action and do some pond cleaning.

Last weekend, I cleaned out the pond filtration system and started treating for string algae which seems to show up along with the sunny, warm temperatures. I had on a cheap pair of plastic clogs and decided on the spur of the moment to climb on some of the rocks around the pond and net out some leaves. Algae + wet rocks + slick shoes = disaster! Well, I slipped and landed really hard on my butt on the top of one of my big containers of water lilies in the pond. Yikes! I could have done some serious damage (to me…not the water lilies!)

Sometimes I start working outside without taking the time to put on good shoes and gloves and wear the proper clothing. (My husband says I am impatient!) Hence, I slip and fall, cut myself or get a good case of poison ivy because I have not taken precautions. One of my serious resolutions this year was to use the proper gear when working outside. I have already flunked that resolution but after that scary fall into the pond, I am determined to at least wear better shoes.

I ordered some terrific water-proof, non-skid slip-on shoes from Muck Boot Company. They fit snug around the ankles and are light weight. The shoes are a little pricey but so comfortable and so safe for climbing around the perimeter of the pond and for wading in the water. I also purchased a pair of Sloggers clogs that have a good skid-proof sole. I actually bought them for their fun design.  So, I may still forget to wear my gloves and run across some poison ivy, but my feet are in good shape this year.

A great blue heron is back scouting my pond. “Harry Heron” is very persistent and when I shoo him away, he sits on top of my roof waiting for me to go inside.  I enjoy watching Harry but really don’t want him eating my fish. So the battle begins! Stay tuned.