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A NEW HOME FOR THE STAGHORN
The staghorn fern got some new digs for the new year. You may recall that I wrote about how it was doing so well it needed to be repotted, and fortunately Kylee over at Our Little Acre saw my plea for some advice. Turns out she has a great tutorial on her blog about how to create a hanging planter ...
2015: A GARDENER’S YEAR IN REVIEW
There are just two hours left in 2015 and although I might be a just bit late on pulling together a little 2015 retrospective, I’d be remiss in not doing so. In January I talked about the perennial of the year for 2015: Geranium x cantabrigiense ‘Biokovo’. I love that plant then and I love it now. And it’s still on any ...
WHAT GARDENS WILL LOOK LIKE IN 2016
Gardening seems to be more insulated from the trends that drive home decor, but I think that’s because it takes longer to develop a garden. You can buy new furniture for your living room and change the whole look in a day but a change like that takes years in a garden. Still, I believe there are shifts in gardening ...
A GREAT HOLIDAY, FOLLOWED BY THE GREAT PURGE
I’ll admit I’m not a fan of Christmas on a Friday because from a regular job perspective, it’s a big challenge. On the other hand, two “extra” days after the holiday were pretty darn amazing to have. Christmas was great. Lots of good family time, great food, a Christmas Eve showing of the new “Star Wars” movie, the series finale ...
CHRISTMAS WISHES
Ever since we threw a Santa hat on our first dog Hudson when he was just puppy and mailed it out, Christmas cards featuring the dogs have become “a thing.” Mr. Much More Patient says we’ve been slacking off in recent years and needed to do something more extravagant this year, but I’ve found that the more complicated we make ...
CHRISTMAS CHEER
Christmas is pretty basic at our house this year and I can’t tell you why. Maybe it’s the unseasonably warm weather we’ve been having that makes it seem not-at-all like Christmastime. Maybe it’s having house projects in the plans and not wanting to have to deal with anything more. Maybe it’s the logistics of a lot of decorations with a ...
FRIDAY FINDS
‘Tis the holiday season of slow and steady for me. I can’t believe I’ve shown you pretty much nothing in the way of decoration at my house yet. I do have photos, but I’d like to supplement them with some taken at dusk with everything lit up and, since dusk is at about 4 p.m. these days, I only see ...
STAGHORN STAGING
Houseplants are my downfall. I love them but I abuse them. Or perhaps neglect is the more appropriate term. Either way, I avoid buying expensive houseplants because my track record with them is not good. Flora Grubb greenhouse photo For years I have wanted a staghorn fern (Platycerium bifurcatum). I think they are the coolest looking plants, with their big, strappy ...
UNSEASONABLE WEATHER LEADS TO GARDENER’S GUILT
I have rarely felt a case of the gardener guilts in mid-December. Gardeners are allowed to go whole hog on the holidays because, for most of us, there are few gardening tasks to be tackled at this time of year. The garden has been put to bed for the winter and it’s too early to plant seeds for next spring’s ...
DOWNSTAIRS BATHROOM: THE PLAN
This downstairs bathroom renovation is becoming an interesting project. Little hurdles are popping up—nothing earth-shattering or more than the usual renovation snafus, but odd—but it looks like it’s going to happen. Soonish. Since I’ve blabbed on about it for a bit now, I thought I’d share with you some of the vision for what the room looks like. You’ll notice ...
A GUIDE TO THE BEST GIFT GUIDES
Today’s post was supposed to be a big photo-filled post showing you all my outdoor Christmas decorations. But it’s not, mostly because on Sunday the dogs decided to go on an expedition down a bluff by my parents’ house. They made it down OK, but the old one got stuck down there and couldn’t get back up and the young ...
THE REAL-PERSON’s GUIDE TO RENOVATION
We are getting close to officially committing to redoing the downstairs bathroom. This is a big deal because (1.) this was the room we swore had to be redone immediately when we first saw the house we would buy—more than 13 years ago, and (2.) it is pretty much the last room to be renovated in this house. Everything we’ve ...
MASTER CLASS ON WINTER CONTAINER CONSTRUCTION
I’m a late Christmas decorator. At least it seems late, since I usually finish it up a couple weeks before Christmas, which is apparently late these days. But I like to take advantage of milder weather to do my outdoor containers, which is easily my favorite holiday project. I’m busy gathering materials now. I picked up some $6 wreaths at ...
3 GREAT BOOKS FOR GIVING AND GETTING
I love giving and receiving books so perhaps it’s serendipitous that it took me so long to write about this trio of books that that has inadvertently turned into a holiday shopping post. The first is Charlotte Moss’s Garden Inspirations. This oversized book is published by Rizzoli, which is known for beautiful, photo-filled books and this one is no exception. ...
FRIDAY FINDS (with a side of snowfall)
Before I get into Friday Finds, a few notes. I have been working on a post with three book reviews in it for weeks now and still haven’t finished it. Next week. They would be excellent gift ideas too. Our first snowfall of the year is expected to come tonight and it could be anywhere from 2 to 8 inches. ...
10 GARDENING JOBS FOR LATE FALL
As a Midwesterner, I have been raised to be excellent at complaining about the weather. It’s the No. 2 most popular hobby in these parts, bested only by something related to football. But this fall we’ve had absolutely nothing to complain about. This El Niño year has given us the most lovely weather, including the conditions we enjoyed this past ...
Letters from the Garden
Letters from the Garden
