Diary of My Country Life-March 21st, 2026

The original source of this blog: https://www.lotusandmichael.com/blogs/diary-of-my-country-life

03/21/2026 Saturday 45-60F Partly Cloudy

My spring planting began early this year. In fact, I repotted my epiphyllum on February 14th since it didn’t look good. Perhaps because I overwatered it in winter and I had noticed the signs of stains on the leaves for weeks, I wanted to wait till spring to repot it; then the situation got worse so I had to do it sooner. I cut off most of its roots; they were red and slimy, did rot. Perhaps my rescue was too late, after the surgery till now, it has been more than one month, I watch it dying bit by bit every day. I don’t know what else I can do for it. Last summer, it brought me five flowers after more than two years planting from a one-foot-long leaf. Now it is gravely ill due to my ignorance and helplessness. Hope spring will evoke its inner strength; let’s cross fingers.

I lost a big osmanthus shrub and one of my favorites, camellia parvilimba. I had three osmanthus in total, the dead one was the largest but the weakest. Since I still have another two, I didn’t really feel so bad about its death. However, the parvilimba, which is native to China, was rare to find in the US market and I am fully responsible for this loss. Why? Because its hardiness zone is 7B, while the place where I live is 7A. Instead of keeping it in the pot, I insisted on planting it in the ground; I excused myself to my husband by saying “it’s the army training so the plant will grow more robust once it adapts to the climate here.”

Therefore, once a long-lasting, extreme cold occurred in this February, it finally lost its life, not even to mention that it didn’t give me flowers at all last fall and winter which was actually a sign of its unhappiness. Now when I think of its cute, pure white, and fragrant little flowers the first year it bloomed in my house, I feel so guilty.

I was too arrogant due to my ignorance! How could I believe that I could ignore its nature and twist it the way I wanted it to be? 

Taking all the lessons, I think I am smarter now. Though I love camellia, most of them just can’t grow well in my zone. I have an April-Tryst camellia which I bought by chance at the early stage of my gardening. Its zone is 6a. Now it grows happily and its leaves are sparkling shinning even after this tough winter. And sinensis, the tea plant, especially the small-leaf, cold hard one. Had I not piled snow on it after the snowstorm and broken most of its branches, it would still merrily cheer in the spring breezes. So this spring, I am determined to replace all the unsuitable and unwanted plants in my garden. Let the pain in the ass get out together. 

On Thursday I dug out three camellias; fortunately they were adopted by my neighbor Karen and will be used for beautifying the neighborhood. I was very happy that though they weren’t needed in my garden, they will play a more important role for others. To thank Karen, I dug out two more herbaceous peonies for her besides my camellias.

Yesterday my fourth sinensis plant ordered online was delivered to my house. I planted it where my old Yuletide camellia was. And early this morning between 3:00 to 4:00am, four deer snuck into the bed and nibbled on it. Then another three deer passed by but didn’t stop. This morning I checked the plant, it had some damages but not that bad comparing to the Yuletide, the leaves of which were totally eaten up by deer. Generally, deer don’t like eating camellia leaves, they randomly browse when their food is scarce. Perhaps because of the location, my Yuletide got more traffic than my other camellias. The sinensis, since its leaves are tougher and aromatic, will hopefully do better in the same spot. Otherwise, I will cover it with net.

So far this spring I have planted two tea plants; today or next Monday, two tree peonies will arrive my home as well. Transplanting tree peonies in spring is risky; I longed for these two cultivars for a long time and didn’t want to miss them so I chose to take the risk. Basically, among all the plants in my garden, peonies, lilacs, magnolia, abelia, mock orange and tea plants grow the best. But at the same time, some of them have big shortages: Herbaceous and Itoh peonies tend to have powdery mildew, and die back to the ground at the end of the year so can’t add structure interest to a winter garden; lilacs’ flower period is too short, and they lose their leaves early in fall; mock orange is not deer-resistant and their tree form is a little sloppy. So, of all, tree peonies and tea plants will be my focus in the future: I can enjoy their fragrances, and use their petals for tea and culinary purposes.

I am glad about this plan. After trying many species, I finally find my true loves. That’s my self-discovery on gardening 😊.