Hostas, at least the ones in my garden, are just about at their peak. They thrive in the cool nights, (semi) warm days and constantly damp soil thanks to spring rains. The armies of slugs haven’t hatched to attack them yet and so far the deer have been (mostly) thwarted by my preventative measures. Their leaves are brilliantly colored and …
For many years I resisted the idea of planting a tree or shrub to memorialize a loved one who has passed. I can’t imagine something worse than planting a tree to remember someone and having it falter. It would be like revisiting that loss all over again. And then I planted a tree as a memorial and I changed my …
One the biggest challenges gardeners face, particularly in certain parts of the country including the Midwest, is wildlife damage. It is soul crushing when you go to your formerly beautiful garden to find plants mowed down overnight by deer. The deer in our neighborhood are so bold they basically give you the stink eye if you interrupt their meal. There …
It should come as no surprise to anyone who reads this blog or follows me on Facebook or Instagram that I have a dahlia addiction. This has been an ongoing problem and my collection seems to keep growing (although I continue to play with different methods of saving tubers from year to year and have yet to hit on one …
It should come as no surprise to anyone who reads this blog or follows me on Facebook or Instagram that I have a dahlia addiction. This has been an ongoing problem and my collection seems to keep growing (although I continue to play with different methods of saving tubers from year to year and have yet to hit on one …
There comes a time in every seedling’s life when it must move out of its cramped confines into bigger digs that will allow it to keep growing. Given proper heat and light, tomato seedlings grow faster than most other kinds of seeds, so they need almost constant tending from the moment they are planted. I sowed my tomato seeds—two seeds …
I didn’t have much time to work in the yard last weekend, which is sad indeed. It has been raining here for days and days and there were other projects that took precedence (which you’re about to hear about). The few hours that I did have for garden time were dedicated to working on the oval circle garden update. Mr. …
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It’s raining out and I can feel the to-do list getting longer rather than shorter. Currently the list includes: Weeding. Shocker! It’s been alternating rain and sun, heat and damn near freezing here, which means the weeds are popping up faster than I can grab them. Designing my containers for the year. I can’t believe […]
How do you feel about petunias? My guess is that you feel very strongly about them; you probably either love them or hate them. I had no idea a flower could elicit such strong feeling in such vastly different directions, but I’ve recently become away that petunias are controversial. If you love them you see […]
One of the jobs for the weekend was digging out three large Viburnum lantana ‘Mohican’ shrubs from the “back” (which is really the side, but that is a story that is too long to go into) of the property. One by one, they’ve been fading, with more parts of each looking worse by the month. […]
This whole “Impatient Gardener” thing isn’t just a gimmick. I struggle with impatience, and although I’m getting better with it, this time of year is especially challenging on the impatience front. The landscaper we hired to do the grading for the new vegetable garden told me it would be done this week and now it’s [
The first real days in the garden are special. The jobs at this time of year are not particularly exciting or interesting, but I usually write about them anyway because being back in the garden is special in and of itself. Although the weekend here wasn’t all that nice, we’re looking at some more seasonal […]
Two weeks ago it was snowing at my house, but not until after it sleeted for awhile. It was miserable. Or so I was told. I was fortunate enough to be enjoying gorgeous California sunshine surrounded by amazing plants. I have much to tell you about those plants, but first I wanted to share the […]
I was skeptical when I first heard about Calamintha nepeta ‘Montrose White’. I’d been to multiple garden talks in which speakers extolled the virtues of this plant. It was a “must-have” they said. But I didn’t think it looked particularly spectacular in photos. Still, I’m a sucker for a new-to-me plant if multiple people have [&hellip
Many gardeners in the north are looking at snow in the forecast this weekend. My most sincere condolences. That is just not OK. I wonder if this lousy spring is a harbinger of an equally cruddy summer to come or if Mother Nature will make up for lost temperatures and cook us this summer. I’m […]
I didn’t intend to start cleaning up the garden over the weekend. The thermometer never got over 40 and there is snow cover on about 40 percent of the garden. But on Sunday, after walk on the beach with the dogs (in which we saw two bald eagles fly just overhead, quite a rare sight […]
A quick note: This post is sponsored by 3-IN-ONE® Multi-Purpose Oil, 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. It’s hard to think of something that matches […]
Oh my, us gardeners are a sad lot indeed these days. Judging by the comments on my last post and what I’m reading on Facebook, it seems like everyone is feeling the pain of some very confusing spring weather. Sad as it is, I’m taking a lot of comfort in knowing that I’m not alone […]
I can say one thing about this crazy “spring” weather that has blanketed my garden in yet more white stuff: I’m not alone. I’m feeling a little whiny about the almost 6 inches of snow we got overnight (and the fact that they say more is on the way this weekend), but I know what […]
Anyone can garden in a container. The first gardening I did on my own was in my first apartment after I graduated from college. I lived in the upstairs of a duplex and got the landlord to let me put a single plastic pot on the sunny driveway. I’ll be honest, I wouldn’t call that […]
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 […]
