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Letters from the Garden

Friday Finds

MONDAY MUSINGS

I’m sure you’re confused about what Monday Musings are. Well, they are Friday Finds when you were too busy on Friday to do Friday Finds but didn’t want to wait a whole week to share some goodies. And god forbid I not use alliteration in a headline.I decorated the house for fall. Yep, that’s it. I’ve never been much a …

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Garden

EXOTIC PLEASURES OF THE WOODLAND GARDEN

I went outside in the rain the other morning and snapped a shot of my favorite plant at this time of year. Then I checked the blog because I thought surely I’d written a special post about toad lilies before and I couldn’t believe I hadn’t. Truth be told, I had no idea what a toad lily even was until …

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Containers

THE WINDOW BOX IN REVIEW

On Tuesday I walked into a funeral service in full on late-summer weather and emerged a couple hours later into weather more suitable for late October. A brisk breeze came off the lake, leaves were falling on our heads and the sun refused to provide the warmth I swear it had earlier in the morning. In case I wasn’t fully …

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Friday Finds

FRIDAY FINDS

It’s officially fall. I will allow myself to use the word now, but that doesn’t mean I’m happy about it. But there’s nothing to be done about it, so I might as well make the most of it and enjoy what really is a beautiful time of year (even if I spend it dreading what comes next). Affiliate links may …

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Garden

A PLAN COMES TOGETHER

It’s Friday, so I bet you’re expecting Friday Finds. Never fear, they are coming later, but I didn’t want to let another day pass without giving up an update on the oval circle garden (I feel like that’s now the best way to refer to it). When we last checked in on this garden that is the first thing people …

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Garden

HOW TO GET THE LOOK OF THE TROPICS IN THE NORTH

There’s no getting around it: At this time of year, the garden is starting to look tired. Foliage is tattered and sun faded, flowers are flopping, everything looks a bit haggard. But one plant is just now coming into its own, the ever tropical-looking Castor bean.  This plant will surely catch your key from across the garden. Before I go …

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Friday Finds

FRIDAY FINDS

I had to apologize to the friend that I bounce every idea off of (she has mastered the art of gently telling me I’m crazy when I need to slow down a little) because as I always do this time of year, I’m full of so much inspiration and I suffer from some sort of attention-deficit issue related to projects. …

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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.

You have gifts to buy and I’m here to help. There’s a lot of gardening stuff out there geared toward gift giving and to be honest, a lot of it is not great. Quality matters and sometimes cute just doesn’t cut it. Gardeners are, generally speaking, a practical bunch, and most of the gardeners I […]

There are two possible explanations for what’s been going on outside here lately: Either the weather is completely off its rocker or I’ve forgotten what this time of year is like. After several decades of experiencing fall into winter in this particular part of the world you would have thought I’d have it down by […]

I suppose the answer to the question posed in the title starts with “What plant?” Sure, there are plants that are special (we all have favorite plant children whether we admit it or not) that many of us would go to some length to protect. But what about replaceable plants?  There was a time where […]

This post is sponsored by 3-IN-ONE® Brand, but all opinions are my own. I also take full responsibility for any messy garages that may be featured. There’s nothing like an abrupt change in seasons to get yourself in gear. Just a week ago I was sitting back, enjoying a beautiful fall day and feeling pretty […]

I might whine about winter and therefore autumn, which is guilty by association, but last weekend we had one of those magical fall days. The sun was bright and warm, the sky was that deep sapphire blue you only see in the last quarter of the year and every bit of foliage seemed to be […]

Fall cleanup used to be more about making sure the tools were put away, the leaves were off the lawn and the pots were cleared out of the way to make sure they won’t get in the way of the snowblower.  I’m not sure when it happened but somewhere along the line I started collecting […]

The last day of summer came and went in the most depressing way possible: with an all-day downpour that kept me out of the garden. This summer-loving gardener is not pleased. It is my sincere hope that we have a lot more summerlike weather ahead because as usual, it feels like summer has absolutely flown […]

I can tell you the exact moment that summer started at my house: 12:27 p.m. September 2.  You read that right. That is the moment that summer started. Reports of summer’s death have been greatly exaggerated. And in this house summer starts the moment that I take the first bite of  BLT featuring a giant […]