When gardeners start the garden year, they have expectations of what they will grow and what the vegetables will look like when they harvest them. If you haven’t gardened before, the thing to know is that the plants, like us, have life spans. Meaning, they have a baby stage, a mid stage, a full grown…
I like to think that my plants live or die because of my care. That is a fairly egotistical view. In fact other forces must exist. Things mysteriously happen in a garden. Take Bill’s wisdom for instance, I asked him once how I would know when I was a gardener? What is the measure or…
When I first moved to my current home, a man lived next door who was an old gardener. I use the term old to not only refer to his elderly status but more importantly, his vast knowledge of the earth, its soil and how to grow food. He was one of those old souls magically…
What are the rules of making a bouquet for the table? There are no rules! There is only heart and passion. Go out to your yard and pick anything interesting or having color. I picked Hosta blooms, tree hydrangea, Day lilies and a stew pot of flowers. Worth mentioning, when you pick Day lilies, make…
Perennials are plants that come back year after year, growing in size and multiplying. This makes them a good investment. They flower for a particular time frame, leaving their stems and leaves to still fill the garden space with greenery. You divide them every few years, thereby having even more of them to fill your…
I had searched online to find garden inspiration. I hoped to find places to visit. I found Cady Falls Nursery. And on a warm sunny day last week I was able to visit. I drove down the dirt road, parked next to a barn and old silo, walked under a hedge of enormous cedar trees…
I grew up amongst gardeners who grew plants for either food or cutting for indoor flower vases. What I never saw growing up was anyone who grew a garden for its artistic qualities. Although, when you love gardens, any garden has artistic qualities. There are gardeners out there that go that extra mile and amaze…
Our most popular springtime Apron remains to be the Gathering Bag Apron. It’s as simple as having a bag strapped to you, you stay hands free, to pick, to weed, to harvest. You don’t have to work your way around the garden and then realize that the basket got left way back at the end…
Planting seeds, well, they have specific challenges to them, primarily it’s a visual issue. More specifically, if you don’t mark where you planted them, you don’t know where they are. At least I don’t. Seedlings are like mini trees. You plunk them into the ground and there they stand hollering “Here I am! Don’t hit…
I wanted to make a wonderfully creative amazing fence for my garden. I planned to make it out of twigs and found architectural pieces. I do aim high, don’t I? I decided that the amazing fence I would build would be framed with a day lily bed. My yard has orange day lilies and they…
I don’t make raised beds. Although a very popular method of gardening and one I keep promising to try, instead I find that I stick to what I know, to what I was taught. I have the garden rototilled into fluffy smoothness and then I create foot paths in the garden by walking in the…
I am excited that the Alpine Strawberries have germinated. If you squint your eyes, and look closely at the soil next to the already germinated Daisies, you can see tiny little tiny green buds peeking through. Those are the Alpine Strawberries. I have never had success with them before so this is fun. My Peonies…