I got behind on my weekly reports of what I’ve been planting, but I think that’s how it works this time of year. It’s a gardening flurry and I’m in that part of the spring marathon where it’s plodding along and longing for gardening days when you putter in the garden rather than do an impersonation of the Tasmanian devil. ...
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. Given that we’d planted them ...
Last fall I discovered how to get a bird’s eye view of my yard via Google Earth and it was rather enlightening. I discovered that the bed on the north side of the house is all kinds of wrong. I already sort of knew that that area had issues. It never really felt right. It was too deep, and the ...
Wow, how did it get to be December 31 already? It seems like the year just flew by. Come to think if it, since I was 25, they all seem to have flown by. It was a good year on the blog. I’ve been doing this since April 2009 and I wrote (a few) more posts this year than any ...
The weather has just been lovely here the past few days. It is all I can do to tear myself away from the garden in the morning and go to work. Today I’m going to share with you the new garden area in the back / side yard. Despite this being one of our main views from the house, ...
We didn’t plan it this way, but this year has become the year of the back yard. Between the renovation of the gardens there and fixing up the garage, I think we’re finally taking care of some of the things that have needed attention since we bought the house 12 years ago. This is the before, farther down ...
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 ...
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.
There is remarkable satisfaction in seeing how a garden project plays out down the road. I recently revisited a pair of Clematis ‘Little Bas’ that I planted in large 24-inch square containers in 2020 and what I found was illuminating. The Clematis have been living their best lives in two container flanking the vegetable garden […
At this time of year a lot of people who like to pretend to be experts armed with crystal balls predict trends with a concerning degree of confidence. Pantone’s Color of the Year is selected in a process the company says is “the culmination of macro-level color trend forecasting and research.” I think that means […]
Thanks to Park Seed for partnering with me on this post. As always, all words, thoughts and vegetable opinions are my own. There are gardeners who have spreadsheets and schedules that tell them exactly what seeds they should be starting when. Those same gardeners undoubtedly started seeds for fall sowing under lights probably a few […]
Thank you to Wave Petunias for partnering with me on this post. I’m often asked a question that is perplexing to me: “Do you grow annuals or perennials?” I don’t fault the people asking the question as I think there are some people who grow one or the other, and perhaps that was more typical […]
If you have a gardener on your holiday gift list you are a lucky person indeed. Not only do you probably share an interest, you also have an excellent starting point to give them a gift they will absolutely love. And then there’s the benefit of being able to do a little shopping for yourself […]
For no good reason at all, there is still an annual debate about when you should clean up your garden. Well debate no more, because as far as I’m concerned, the answer is that you should do what’s best for you. But there are some compelling reasons to sit tight until spring to clean up […]
This post is done in partnership with Ball Horticultural, which not only produces amazing plants, but also throws a mean party. Thank you so much to Ball for a fabulous night. If you ever wondered how many container combinations could be made with a dozen or so plant options, I can offer an answer: Way […]
There is a tendency to think of plants as delicate things that require coddling, but some demand the opposite treatment. That’s how I found myself in a full-on assault a couple weeks ago as I engaged in the abuse of Brazilian fern tree seeds. The three-quarter-inch long, flat seeds were hard as a rock and […]
Thank you to Park Seed for partnering with me on this post. As always, all words and thoughts are my own. You might be asking yourself what begonias and peppers have in common that they’d end up in the same article. A lot actually, at least when it comes to starting them from seed, which […]
There are two types of plant shoppers: the kind who spots the variety they are looking for and they grab the first one they see and the kind who will look through a minimum of a dozen plants before choosing the one. It’s pretty clear what category I fall into. I have never purchased the […]
I’m thinking about starting my holiday shopping soon. It appears that I’ve been having a bit too much fun planning for next gardening season and forgot about things like Christmas shopping. If you’re like me and you have, well, all your shopping to do I can at least help out with any gardeners on your […]
I have a long list of gifts that make excellent gifts for gardeners, but I have a short list of things that are poor gifts for gardeners. At the top of that list are hand pruners. My rule for hand pruner gifting: If you don’t know the recipient well enough that you’d be comfortable buying […]
Thanks to Park Seed for partnering with me on this post. As always, all words, thoughts and vegetable opinions are my own. There are gardeners who have spreadsheets and schedules that tell them exactly what seeds they should be starting when. Those same gardeners undoubtedly started seeds for fall sowing under lights probably a few […]
I’m not much for nighttime gardening, preferring to spend such hours sitting on the deck watching the fireflies, but last week you would have found me in the vegetable garden peering under leaves with a blacklight. I was on the hunt for an enemy I’ve not done battle with before: tomato hornworm. Just a few […]
