Remember when I bought this dresser? Oh, you don’t? Well that’s probably because I did that at least three years ago. I bought it because it was just sitting there in the thrift store and it looked so cool that I bought it. Without any plan for it. You will be happy to know that I have stopped doing that: …
Like pretty much everyone, I’m anxiously waiting for spring to show up. But a girl can only paint so much stuff in her house before the paint fumes take over and you have to give in to the pent-up gardening urge. So, over the past couple weeks, I’ve been redesigning the back yard. First of all, it’s really the side …
For this week’s Feature Friday I wanted a more “normal” garden. That is, something approachable for the average gardener. The last couple weeks I’ve featured gardens that approach the dream category, but this one feels very real to me (even if the house suggests they probably hire a gardener to maintain it). I like that relatively ordinary plants have been …
Don’t forget, dear readers, that late winter is the best time to prune many shrubs (but not anything that blooms in spring). I can’t wait to do a bit of pruning for health, shape and size in my yard. First off, that is not a black and white photo. Isn’t that sad? The whole world is still shades of gray …
I can think of nothing that makes Mr. Much More Patient happier than when I declutter something. Even if he took a rather active role in the original cluttering. He actually congratulates me when I fill up garbage cans or have him load up boxes to be taken to Goodwill. So when it came to getting a birthday gift for …
There aren’t a lot of garden designers who people know by name. There are even fewer who people who don’t garden know by name. Arne Maynard is one of them. Thanks to articles in Vogue, Town and Country, Elle Decor, the New York Times and many others, Maynard is known to a lot of non-gardeners as well. I love looking …
This week I find myself in one of those places where I have a lot of things have finished but nothing really to show for it. And that’s how you end up with blog post about everything and nothing at the same time. My parents are currently soaking up a bit of sunshine in Florida and were nice enough to …
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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 now gardened in the same place long enough that there are few new places to make a garden. Something usually has to go to make way for something new. And so it is with our main raised vegetable garden, the removal of which makes me both very excited for what’s to come and just […]
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 […]
I’ve learned a lot about gardening through the years. Looking back at some of the things I did when I started gardening at this house I see where I might do things differently now. (I don’t like to think of too many things I did back then as mistakes because I just didn’t know better […]
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 […]
