I drive over 350 miles each and sometimes work in four South Carolina cities a week. But still I volunteer at the Seibles House, a property of Historic Columbia Foundation.

The Seibels House garden was often mentioned in the 19th- and 20th-century. Today, this landmark property features a revitalized landscape that merges existing historic elements with perennial border based on trends from 1920s. It has become a remarkably beautiful place that is worth a visit if you’re in the area.

Ask for a tour with resident horticulturalist, Eric Becker. This also is an example of what a community organization can do with good leadership and involved volunteers.

Early May Garden Checklist

Now is the time to mark those plants whose seeds you want to collect later. Every year I mark where zephyranthes atamasco flowers in a nearby swamp so I can collect seeds in May.

Now also is the time to divide crinums and drench with liquid fertilizer. In fact, an important part of the work for the next few weeks is liquid feeding of perennials. A little foliage mist with micronutrients will help ensure good growth and good foliage color of crinum, ginger lilies, salvia mexicana and grasses. Fresh growth is truly a wonder in the garden.

Looking Good Now: Eucomis

The BIG BOX stores and every nursery in the Midlands were swarming with gardeners AND, typical, we’re supposed to freeze this week.

My favs of the week:

Eucomis Comosa Sparkling Burgandy Pineapple Lily is one of the staples of my gardens. Use it in formal gardens, in borders, and mixed in low grasses. It has semierect rosette of strapping, waxy leaves that turn more green in late summer. The pineapple-like purple blossoms come in July.

Dutch Iris is dependably pretty and great for cut flowers. I prefer the cultivar Casabalnca which I plant among Alliums to ensure that there is something flowering for weeks. I also use Dutch Iris in tubs and pots. As long as they have well-drained soil and full sun, Dutch Iris cant be beat for a beautiful display and cut flower. But they do dwindle over the years plant 100 this year and you have just 80 next!

Baptisia, which Tony Avant, calls glorified peas, is another one of my favorites that is looking good right now. I like the species Alba (white wild indigo or white false indigo) with its prototypical spiky architectural form. I often plant it with ground cover including Artemisia in the meadow of Moore Farms, in South Carolina Pee Dee area where its drought tolerance can be a blessing.

Mid-April lights up with Carolina Moonlight but beware, my coworkder Ethan Kauffman says that by mid-August, The foliage of nearly all the specimens in Pinebay has blackened and turned brittle. This plant is finished for the year and we must patiently wait for it to emerge next spring.