Search
Close this search box.

Letters from the Garden

Garden

REVIVAL OF A GARDENER’S SOUL

This weekend was one of those amazing gifts that Mother Nature throws our way every once in a while that revive the sleeping soul of a gardener. Saturday was in the 50s and we set a record on Sunday with temps in the low 60s. This is pretty much unheard of for Wisconsin in February. Check it out: Signs of …

Read More
Friday Finds

FRIDAY FINDS

It’s Friday Finds time! If you missed today’s earlier post showing off my now hanging staghorn fern, check it out here. Deborah Silver photo I have long been in love with Deborah Silver’s “grass” floor, but now she’s gone and put English daisies on it and I’m completely smitten. Some great seed starting do’s and don’ts from Erin at Floret …

Read More
Garden

HANGING THE HORN

Remember how I repotted the staghorn fern in a grapevine ball a couple months ago? Because of the renovation to the back room (which has been finished for awhile but I still haven’t gotten around to putting everything back in that room and therefore having shown you what it looks like now), the fern has been living in its ball …

Read More
Garden

THREE PLANTS I’LL GROW THIS YEAR

Much of the past decade of gardening at my house has been an alternating pattern of creating new gardens and improving existing gardens. A couple years ago I realized that I probably have as much garden square footage as I can handle (and frankly probably too much) at this point in my life, so my focus has shifted to refining …

Read More
Friday Finds

FRIDAY FINDS

Gosh, gang, I’m really sorry there weren’t more posts this week. I’ve got 25 balls in the air and none of them have quite landed yet so I’m never quite ready to blog about any of them and they keep me too busy to blog about anything else. But I do love a good Friday list, so let’s go for …

Read More
Cottage

ALMOST PERFECT + SPRAY PAINT = LIGHT LOVE

There are times when you wonder what someone was thinking when they decided to make something one way or the other. I now believe that this is exactly why spray paint was invented. I ordered this pretty light for the office / back room (heretofore just called the office even though there’s really not that much work that happens back …

Read More
Friday Finds

FRIDAY FINDS

I’ve got most of my seeds ordered (and delivered), I just ordered some more willow twigs to start this year and I’ve got my eye on this dogwood and have come *this close* to ordering it about three times but I can’t think of where I’d put it. Cornus kousa ‘Rutpink’ This is the time of year that I really …

Read More

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 list of flowers I grow from seed changes from year to year, but there are some that are non-negotiable. I must have them. At the top of the list is Nicotiana alata.  Most people are familiar with Nicotiana—common names are flowering tobacco or jasmine tobacco, but this is one of those plants for which […]

Poor Friday Finds … it keeps missing its own deadline. But as with most things, Friday Finds are better late than never. Before I get into it, you should know that as I sat at the kitchen table writing this, one of the flowers (next to the one pictured above) on the amaryllis literally just […]

This is the start of regular feature I’ve been planning to start for about two years now. Plants to Know a quick growing guide for plants that you should, well, know about (clever, right?). In each Plants to Know feature, I’ll share a plant with you, a bit about growing it and the basic facts, […]

The first DIY project of the year is in the books. It wasn’t a big one, but it’s been awhile since we’ve done a project so it’s nice to ease into it.  This is one of many small projects within the ongoing and rather slow renovation of the finished half of the basement. (Let’s not […]

Somehow Friday Finds turned into Sunday finds, but better late than never, right? Since we’re halfway through the weekend I can tell you that it’s one of those blissful weekends with nothing specific planned. We’re supposed to warm up tomorrow and hopefully all of you poor folks on the East Coast are not far behind.  […]

Here we are, at the last post of the year (probably). I’m going to guess that you, like me are feeling that familiar tug in two different directions: astonishment that another year has already passed and excitement for a fresh start and look at what the new year will bring. One of my favorite photos […]

Another year has almost whooshed by. I know I’m not the only one who feels like time is passing more quickly than it used to, but I think for gardeners, certain times of the years pass amazingly quickly. It’s always interesting to look back at the successes and failures (and everything in between) of the […]

It appears I took a mini blogging break accidentally recently. It wasn’t my intention, but between an epic deadline at work and the general craziness of the holidays, well, I’ve been a busy bee. As I write this, it is three days to Christmas and my goal for the night is to decorate the mantel. […]

I saw a post last Friday where someone said they were going shopping for last-minute gifts and I guffawed. Amateur! I am a skilled last-minute shopper and I can’t think of a year when I didn’t wrap at least one gift on Christmas day. So I know a little something about last-minute shopping and the […]

It’s high time we get to talking about the holidays here, so here’s my annual guide to gifts for gardeners. But let’s call it what it really is, shall we? We all know these are gifts for you. It’s OK, I won’t tell anyone. And if you feel guilty buying something for yourself outright at […]