As promised, brutal honesty is afoot. I've killed the Potager. We're going to have to come up with another name for it. What has, for years, been the place where good ideas and plants go to die, is now a wee vineyard (LOL, dare I call 2 whole grape vines a vineyard?) 2021, while an… Continue reading Ding! Dong! The Potager is Dead!
I'm one of those people who follows rules, usually arbitrary and unnecessary ones I've made up out of whole cloth, and sets stupidly high expectations for myself. Its dumb and probably rooted in those AP and Honors courses and the drive to be considered successful. Oh the Gen X angst of it all! But I… Continue reading Permission to change.
Back when we first installed what we call the Cee garden (so named because the aerial view of the bed looks like the letter C) my vision was to use the red and fuchsia Monarda we inherited at the house along with the fuchsia peonies we were gifted by my parents (they came with the… Continue reading A Rethink for 2021: The Cee Garden
I was reading Margaret Roach's interview with Bill Noble about designing gardens that feel rooted to its particular geographical space. I always find this concept interesting and, frankly, appealing but its been an idea I struggle with recommending. How's that for non-sensical? Let me make it clearer- or at least try! You see about a… Continue reading Garden Design Rules: Necessary or Joy Killers? The Debate Continues…
No seriously, instead of just talking about it and sketching ideas, we actually built it. Obviously this idea and plan has been gestating for a long while, we went back and forth on the location, the shape, the depth- all of it. But we settled on the swale as the best location and, in a… Continue reading The Wildlife Pond. We did it!
Oh man you guys. I've written a half dozen blog posts that couldn't bear to publish. Some are anxious, some annoyed, some blithely defiant. None of them felt right and all of them went in the bin. Turns out I don't know what to say or how to say what I'm thinking about all this… Continue reading Forward.
When we first moved in to this house there was a rotting deck in the front of the house that we promptly demolished (see below). We didn't like how small the deck was and how confined it felt, not to mention the views from both the house and the deck (when seated) were lackluster at… Continue reading The Problem with the Patio.
I was recently reading another gardening blog and she asked what gardening rules we found it hardest to abide by. My response was all of them! But let me clarify before you judge me: I am a very firm believer in horticultural rules. I believe in Right Plant, Right Place more than any other gardening… Continue reading On Rules.
Since my seed orders have already arrived and I'm proving to have a sliver of self-control, foregoing any of the temptations in the newly arrived catalogs, I thought I might as well get the veg garden plan in place before I become the One Armed Bandit. (BTW, I get to have shoulder surgery shortly and… Continue reading 2020 Veg Garden
The most recent iteration of the Potager was more successful than the last, but only just barely. That's the good news. The bad news is that the veg portion of it didn't do a thing (other than the chives and green onions) because BUNNIES. And the floral aspect was found to be a bit wanting… Continue reading Potager Plans
I'm always excited/interested to see the plans and designs that are released ahead of Chelsea. Partly because its a sneak peak into the show, partly because its a great insight into the mind of the designers, and partly because its just so exciting! This year there are a few that read as "standard" show gardens.… Continue reading Thinking Chelsea.
The short answer is yes! But perhaps not in the timeline I'd imagined. And that's okay! You see, as is my nature, I dove headlong into research and that invariably leads to logistics. The logistics of putting in a pond is no small bit of planning and quite a bit of work. No duh, right?… Continue reading The Pond. Are we really doing this?
Well, the seeds have all been purchased and the logistics/rotations have all been calculated. Ladies and Gentlemen, we have a plan. Veg Garden Beans, Fava: Masterpiece (Baker Creek), Broad Windsor (Baker Creek) Beets: Kestrel (Fedco), Touchstone (Fedco) Broccoli: Burgundy Sprouting (Fedco) Cabbage: Kalibos (Baker Creek) Cucumber: Telegraph Improved (Baker Creek), Tendergreen Burpless (Baker Creek) Eggplant:… Continue reading The 2019 Veg Patch.
One of my favorite things to do in the cold winter months is to curl up with some books and notebooks and pens and just chew on some garden ideas. Research some things, sketch out ideas, throw them away, start over, bat ideas back and forth with Rich, and keep working ideas over until something… Continue reading Ruminating, Brainstorming, and Ponds?
I'm going to take a wee break from the seed talk and get back to the rethinking of the Potager. This time we'll talk plants- specifically what needs to change to maximize this fun little space. With this (above) being the state of plant affairs in the potager at the end of last year's growing… Continue reading The Potager: Rethinking the Plants
I think its only fair to give a garden at least 2, possibly 3, years to mature and fill in before too harsh of a glance is aimed at it. The Half Moon garden has had about that much time, and what has worked has, in fact, worked beautifully well. Case in point: Little Bluestem… Continue reading Revisiting the Half Moon Garden.
I know we all have these mental notes about what we want to/should change about our gardens for the next growing season. I try my best to write them down before I forget them, but compiling them all for easy access later has been a bit more of a struggle. Something(s) always get missed and… Continue reading Notes for Next Year: 2019
Though there are still a few carrots and rutabaga in the dirt, I think its fair to say the growing season is over for most of us. That means its time to make heads or tails of it all and make notes for next year. Let's get to it! What Worked: The peppers had an… Continue reading Veg In Review: 2018 Season
The last of the garden spaces to be completed is sitting out at the south end of the garden. A narrow East-West strip of grass with a significant North-South swale along its Western edge. It is bordered by hedges on its North and South sides. It has a rickety, homemade wattle fence along its West… Continue reading A Royal Wedding Inspiration.
My Brent & Becky's order arrived late last week- exactly at the beginning of a mildly-frustrating combination of continuous rain and a weekend away. So, on the dining room table they've sat. A silent reminder that I'm way, way behind on my fall tasks in no small part to the blasted weather. The bulbs arrived… Continue reading Bulbs Ahoy!
Box & Bay 