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Letters from the Garden

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Does the paint make the painter?

O  r is it the other way around? I’m in the midst of a bit of an experiment with paint right now. I’m painting my NEW BANQUETTE!!!!!!! (Can you tell I’m a little excited?) A great craftsman took my rambling notes and turned what was in my head into reality … and then he installed it in my kitchen! He …

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Other

And the winner is …..

T   he winner of my 100th post giveaway is the super talented and multi-blogging Maya from Completely Coastal and A Beach Lover’s Place. Maya opted for the subscription to House Beautiful magazine so three years of great design inspiration are headed her way! Thanks for participating, everyone!

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Other

Did I do that?

A nyone remember Urkell from that annoying sitcom? The geek who wore his pants pulled up a foot past his belly button and said in a nasal-filled voice, “Did I do that?” That’s what’s going through my head as I look at this picture. I can’t help it. I’m a murderer. A plant murderer. The irony here is that I …

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Other

The big 100th post GIVEAWAY!

I   n celebrating this 100th post on this blog since April 27, 2009 I thought a long time about what sort of giveaway I should do. Maybe give away 100 of something. A hundred plants, 100 bucks, 100 … um … paint samples (actually I’m getting dangerously close to being able to do that one, ever since the local Benjamin …

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Garden

Get your gardening on

T   here is nothing better than a flower or garden show for a gardener stuck in the middle of winter. Actually, I would imagine they’d be great even if you live somewhere you can garden most of the year, because they are a fantastic place to get new ideas. Gardening is all about inspiration, which is why most gardeners love …

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Other

Stay tuned this week for a big giveaway!

T    he Impatient Gardener is just three two posts away from 100 posts, and I think it only fitting that we do some kind of giveaway to celebrate. I haven’t decided what it will be yet, but it will be good (and it will probably be a gift card to some store you REALLY want to buy something at). So …

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Other

A show you should check out

H  ave you caught the new show “Curb Appeal: The block” on HGTV? I’m really loving it. The premise is that they go to a neighborhood and pick the shabbiest house on the block and give it a $20,000 makeover. That’s great, especially if you’re the lucky person in the shabby house. But what’s neat about the show is that …

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The Impatient Gardener blog was started in 2009 and its library of posts includes practical how-tos, plant guides, favorite garden gear, successes and failures and much more. If you’re looking for something specific, the search function at the top of the page can help.

The new vegetable garden—I’m calling it a parterre although I think that may be stretching the definition just a bit—has existed in my head for a few years and been knocked around on paper for a few months. And soon it will be a reality. The goal is to expand my growing area so I […]

I’ve heard that you should plant peas on St. Patrick’s Day. If I were to do that it would require a chisel and blow torch to get through the soil, which currently resembles an ice cube. In fact next week I’ll show two actual soil ice cubes. But that’s a long story and one best […]

Hakonechloa is one of those plants that just catches your eye. I know because it is the plant I’m most frequently asked to identify in my garden whenever I post photos that include it. It’s also a plant I would hate to be without. Hakonechloa (aka Japanese forest grass) has the distinction of being one […]

Hey gang! This post is sponsored by 3-IN-ONE®  Multi-Purpose Oil and Lava® Soap, but you know I will always tell it like it is, so all words and opinions are entirely my own. This post may also include affiliate links. Thanks for supporting the brands that support this blog. A few years ago I made […]

It’s a difficult time of year for this gardener. Social media is full of the first signs of spring for gardeners living in other areas, but the closest we’ve come to that is a lot of rain. I lamented this in a post recently and need to take my own advice: Be patient. But I’ll […]

It is always fun to check out new plants coming on the market. It’s not that new plants are necessarily better than old plants (although those bred to address downfalls certainly can be), but it’s just fun to see what is new and different.  Here are some new plants I’m most excited to see this […]

This moment—right now—is when gardeners start to get really restless, particularly those of us in the northern part of the country. Our gardening brethren in warmer zones are reporting sightings of Galanthus (aka snowdrops), hellebores and crocus, and they are starting seeds indoors. But for many of us it is just too soon. Almost anything [&hel

For many years we had our driveway plowed. Mostly it was great: The neighbor who did the plowing always did ours first because he knew we had to get to work early, it was cleared quickly and we didn’t have to do anything. Well, anything other than pay for it, obviously. Most winters our plowing […]

The grocery store closest to our house and my office is closing in the next week or so. The shelves are mostly bare, and what’s left is deeply discounted. It will leave the city I grew up in (population 12,000) without a grocery store until at least the end of summer when a new store […]

Climbing hydrangea is misunderstood. It has a reputation  as a temperamental thug, one that takes too long to grow and then grows too much when it does. But have faith friends, Hydrangea anomala petiolaris is a victim of  hasty judgement. It is true that it can take a bit to get going—three to five years […]

I always wonder how weeks in the middle of winter still manage to get away from me once in a while. The mental countdown to gardening season has begun, but usually this is the time of year when time seems to pass slowly. Not this week. A death in the family (expected) and deadlines at […]

Few plants pack as much punch in to a flower as dahlias do. Colorful, free blooming and often structurally interesting, just about the only thing that dahlias lack is scent. And the secret is out. In recent years dahlias have surged in popularity, which is good for gardeners because never before has it been so […]