Last week I told you about how I found ramps (wild leeks) in our back yard and got a few more from a nice neighbor. I could hardly wait to try them but it was the middle of a busy week so I had to take a pass on all the fancy schmancy recipes I found for them online and …
Remember those corny posters you would buy through the book club at school? (Am I aging myself here?) They were crappy mini posters that came folded so there was always a big crease on them and they featured inspirational sayings and cute pictures of kittens and puppies. I generally hung them next to my Michael Jackson Thriller posters. Don’t judge. …
We ran into our neighbors who live at the end of our road this weekend while we were out walking the dogs. They are lovely people but they don’t live at this house year-round so we don’t get to see them very often. As we were chatting (mostly about what a pain garlic mustard weed is), she mentioned that they …
Brightening up the corner of my desk at work today. I’m so stingy about cutting flowers from my garden but I never regret it when I do. It’s unbelievable to me how much this collection of daffs is making me happy today.
I’m not an overly organized person, but I aspire to be. That aspiration is perpetuated by my affinity for organizing systems. I could never go to The Container Store because I’d top my credit card limit in a matter of hours. I’ve organized a few spaces that needed it pretty badly in this house, but the most successful efforts have …
I got the most lovely e-mail message the other day. Brigitte wrote me to tell me that she was so inspired by the eating area in our kitchen, that she created her own. I thought that sounded pretty cool but when I looked at the photos, I was blown away. Brigitte did this all herself (with a little help from …
Welcome to my first ever video post! This has been a long time in coming, mostly because I didn’t realize how much time was involved in making and editing a video. I actually kind of gave up on the process, which will be totally obvious when you watch the video which is an exercise in awkward Midwestern accents, squinting, bad …
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We interrupt your frantic season-end gardening for a quick message. This post is sponsored by 3-IN-ONE® Multi-Purpose Oil and Lava® Soap, but all words and opinions are entirely my own. This post may also include affiliate links. Thanks for supporting the brands that support this blog. There is a “right” way to store your garden [&h
Well that was abrupt. Without a lot of lead-up, we had hard frost. And just like that, the growing part of the gardening season is over. I didn’t take the threat of a freeze too seriously because we usually escape the first few frosts that affect even areas just an eighth of a mile away. […]
The monarchs are making their way south, and the hummingbirds are all but gone. The geese overhead seem to be pointing south and all this migration can only mean one thing: It’s time for the annual houseplant migration. I like to think of myself as a good gardener, but I am a lousy caretaker of […]
Put the wheelbarrow down! I know you’re busy working in the garden, but I have to tell you that this post is a partnership with Lowe’s Home Improvement. Thanks for checking it out and thank you for supporting the brands that partner with The Impatient Gardener. Life is just periods of blissful unawareness followed by […]
As I got farther and farther behind in planting my vegetable garden I knew this day would come. In fact, it comes every year, but I knew it would be even more dramatic this year, as tomatoes just wouldn’t have enough time to produce and ripen all the fruit they were meant to provide. But […]
It’s funny how some plants mean more to me than others. Often these are among the first plants I bought. Acer palmatum dissectum ‘Orangeola’ was, I think, the first expensive plant I ordered online. It was certainly the first tree I bought online. I say online, but I think I actually placed the order on […]
The first fall after we moved into our house 16 years ago, my mother-in-law bought me a collection of tulips. It was a sweet gesture and one that was particularly lovely the following spring when they all shot out of the ground and showed that hint of color as their tight buds started to open. […]
I’m about to gripe about gardening, but I want to preface that by saying that I realize that in light of what many people are dealing with from Hurricane Florence and other natural disasters, this is small potatoes. So on that front, I am thankful that I’m in a position to be able to whine […]
Hi friends: I just want to tell you that this post is paid partnership with Lowe’s Home Improvement, but you know how I roll on these things: You’ll always get my honest opinion. I’ll be the first to admit that I will never have a lawn that looks like a golf course. And I’m 100% […]
The start of the gardening year is signaled, in my garden at least, by the blooming of the first bulb. Last year it was a race between one insanely long-lived and abused daffodil and the winter aconites. Even though I cannot bear to think of the months that precede that moment right now, I know […]
There is great irony in writing about varying methods of watering a garden after of two weeks of nearly constant rain here, a weather cycle I can’t remember the likes of but I know so many other gardeners have faced this year (or the exact opposite, and I’m not sure which is worse). Still, after […]
Well here we are, on the eve of Labor Day weekend in the U.S., the date many people think of as the end of summer. Well there will be none of that here! The garden is still going strong (although everything is a little beat up after our heavy rains) and I have a lot […]
I remember when I would enjoy laying in bed listening to a rollicking summer storm. The rain pounding on the roof above my head, the rumble of thunder, the waves crashing on the nearby shore were all sounds I enjoyed listening to until they lulled me to sleep. Apparently my brain is now permanently in […]
It has been a great year for dahlias in my garden and after talking to several dahlia-loving friends, I’m counting myself very lucky. Few flowers bring me as much joy as dahlias, and I like them every which way: big and blousy, perky singles, pokey cactus types, perfect little balls. I want them all. What […]
