Aaah, the smell of burning leaves, the crisp air, riotous leaves, and the beginnings of the unstoppable nosedive into winter... October, I've missed you (but also, still over here wondering where on Earth this year has gone... how is it already October?). October is a bit of a crazy-ish month for us every year. Deer… Continue reading October
As we roll into the early stages of autumn, I find myself realizing that I've not posted here since late July!?! Awful! I'm going to try going with a regular monthly post and adding in extra posts as needed to make things both more consistent and easier on myself (you should see the number of… Continue reading September
AKA: How to notice problem areas and figure out ways to fix them in a hurry. We offered up our garden this year to our Garden Club. As in we finally said it was a green light for them to come visit (socially distanced and with masks, of course) during our summer garden tours. The… Continue reading Planning for a Showing.
So, you are off to the nursery to buy yourself some veggies and/or flowers. Huzzah! Support that local nursery if you can (I'm not at all convinced the plants at big box stores get the same sort of love as they do at a nursery, but I've absolutely bought plants there, so you know, go… Continue reading What to Look for at the Nursery.
I'll happily leave this post mostly free from text. The few crocuses we have are starting to bloom, this white one is the first of the year and its presence is more appreciated than it will ever know. Next in line. A visitor, as happy about the sunshine as we are. I've got a few… Continue reading And so it begins.
Last week I was shuttled off to San Diego for work. It was a breakneck pace, but we did have one half day to explore and there were many sunset dinners at very posh restaurants. But the best part was all the green and sunshine! Oh, and the blooms! I'll put up another post shortly… Continue reading Sunny San Diego
Ask and ye shall receive! The new seed starting set up seems to be working like gangbusters. I already have better germination rates than I did last year (by far) and this is with things with spottier germination (and longer times 'til germination) than what I usually grow. I couldn't be more pleased! Here she… Continue reading Seedlings!
All this talk of American Gardens, pioneering spirit, and rewilding got me thinking about what, exactly, spurred my love of prairies. I suspect it had much to do with our years spent living amongst them. We lived in South Dakota, near Sturgis and in Rapid City, at the base of the Black Hills for about… Continue reading South Dakota.
This year's bulb order from the esteemed Brent & Becky's was a small one. Camassias, Trout Lilies, and more Daffodils. Specifically Camassia 'Blue Danube' which prefers slightly less constantly damp soil than traditional Camassias. I've put in in the East side of the Main Garden to pair with the intense purples and stark whites we… Continue reading Bulbs for 2020.
I often wonder why I suffer through 7-ish months of coddling tender plants that don't give me fruit. The constant watering, mealy bugs, spider mites. Stinky fish emulsion and fertilizers. Yes, the citrus & fig get all that too but at least there are oranges at the end. And I'll tell you what, those oranges… Continue reading Winter Bloom
I always like to do a round up of what did and didn't work after the season is done. Partly because I have a tiny bit of hope that it is useful to someone else, but mostly because if I don't write this stuff down somewhere, it'll be lost to the void. (And because this… Continue reading Wins and Losses: 2019 Edition
Much to my delight the seed catalogs have started coming in hot and heavy. Fedco Seeds, Seed Savers Exchange, Baker Creek and High Mowing Organics have already arrived and I'm like a kid in a candy store. The bonus to these catalogs coming before the holidays is that my memory of both this past year's… Continue reading Seeds Ahoy!
I'll spare the words and just share the pretty. Here's to a wonderful weekend full of dirty hands and fragrant flowers!
We've been away and have just returned- hence the blog silence. We were privileged to be invited to attend the United States Naval Academy graduation for one of Rich's former cadets. It was a beautiful week in Gettysburg, PA and Annapolis, MD. Lovely warm sunshine, everything was so green and flowering! Gettysburg was surprisingly wild… Continue reading Return!
I know we all have our garden stalwarts. The plants that are just so well suited to your site, you can't help but grow loads of them because they look amazing with almost no effort. For us, that plant is undoubtedly the Iris. Any gardening rookie soon finds out, after the briefest of Google searches,… Continue reading An Ode to Irises.
Box & Bay 