My backyard is cut in half by a picket fence and archway. The part between the house and fence is mostly lawn, with side gardens. The part behind the fence is a mixture of vegetable gardens, flower gardens, and a large shed, with what used to be an attached greenhouse/chicken coop. When the deer would come into my yard from next door, I would send … Continue reading fences and gates
May is usually a month of abundant blooms in the garden, but this year only a few things are blooming. The few tulips that survived the deer, have gone over, and the cold rainy weather has slowed everything else to a crawl. While everything is lush and green, blooms are few and far between. But what I do like about this lull in performance, is … Continue reading the mid-may garden
When I was a child, yellow was my favorite color. As an adult, it has to be green. Four rooms in my home are green, and my porch. I’ve come to think of green as a neutral, since it plays so well with every color. Nature provides every shade imaginable and in every shape and size. After a drab, brown, and dreary winter, colors are … Continue reading the many and lovely shades of green
This week’s bouquet is quite simple. All but the pure white daffodils remain, and they are fragile from a full day of beating rain. The tulips have all but a few, been eaten by the deer. So that left only the Virginia Bluebells for picking. I’ve never used them in a bouquet before, but since they flourished so abundantly this year, I could bare to … Continue reading this week’s bouquet
I must admit, I have always been greatly influenced by English gardens and gardeners. My lifelong goal has been for my gardens to have the “cottage” style look, and I’ve always felt I was born on the wrong side of the pond. One thing I have noticed in the last few years is how many plants the English grow in pots. That is not to … Continue reading a trio of pots
I think Virginia Bluebells (Mertensia virginicia) are my favorite of the shade/wild flowers. One of America’s native plants, Virginia Bluebells are part of the Borage family. They have nodding clusters of pink buds that open into a lovely blue trumpet-shaped flower. I’ve had a few plants for years, but they have never done well, and often seemed to struggle just to survive. But, for some … Continue reading virginia bluebells
First bouquet of the year from the garden, and of course, it is daffodils and forsythia, with a few stems of epimedium thrown in. Such a cold, rainy morning required a quick run through the rain in an attempt to bring some sunshine into the house. The daffodils are at their peak, and all too soon will be going over. It was now or never … Continue reading this week’s bouquet
Epimedium is a low-growing perennial that is native to China, Japan, and Korea. It’s common name is bishop’s hat, because of it’s resemblance to a clergyman’s biretta. I have grown this perennial for years and barely noticed it in my garden, since the flowers are very small and usually hiding under the leaves. But this year, in late winter, I cut all the old leaves … Continue reading epimedium
Half way through March and still not much going on outside. If spring is at a stand still outside due to cold weather, then I’ll give it a jump start inside with annual flower seeds. I am more than a little late getting my seeds planted. But it has been so cold and gray outside, and we are still 6 weeks away from the last … Continue reading seedy beginnings
The Echinacea garden is coming along. It’s been a long process. The area is at the very back of my yard and was totally covered with honeysuckle trees that I cut down during the summer. Slowly, I’ve been filling it in with new plants. Even though they are written down somewhere, I can’t tell you the names of all these varieties. But in the end, … Continue reading echinacea garden
in my spare time 