Winter came back. I knew it would. I knew that this mild winter and early spring that we were blessed with was just too good to be true, but mentally I had moved on. The end of the week brought us horrible weather and this morning the trees were shimmering with ice on their branches and every sign of live …
I am a sucker for new plants. I’m also a sucker for old, tried-and-true varieties, but there is something fun about checking out all the latest and greatest that will be hitting garden centers this year. I’m doing a little series on some of the new plants I’m most excited about this year and I’m kicking it off with annuals. …
My neighbors must be understanding people. Until about midnight every night a bright white light emanates from the sliding glass door in the office, illuminating our back/side yard and, I’m assuming, that side of my neighbors’ house. Fortunately their bedrooms don’t face this direction, but it’s bright.Of course by this time they know the drill at this time of year. …
The other night I had a dream that I was in a nursery buying potting mix, except it wasn’t called potting mix, it was called compost. And I spent a great deal of time trying to figure out if I wanted ericaceous compost or not. But here’s the thing: Calling potting mix compost is not common in the U.S., and …
It’s Friday Finds time, but first I wanted to share a couple pictures from my trip to Austin with Troy-Bilt’s Saturday6 gang last week. Troy-Bilt sent the Saturday6, a group of bloggers who work with them, on a shindig to find out about some new products, explore Austin and do a little good. (Disclaimer: They paid for this trip as …
I hesitate to even tempt the weather gods by posting this, but holy smokes are we in a stretch of beautiful weather here. The snow is gone, the little creek in the back yard is running (and astonishingly not a single Newfoundland dog has figured that out yet), bulbs are peeking their heads out of the soil. Only a gardener …
My apologies for the absence last week. If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram you’ll know that I was down in Austin for a Saturday6 (Troy-Bilt’s blogger team) event. I had all kinds of plans to get some posts up but I ought to stop making plans like that because it never happens. We had a fabulous time and …
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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 […]
