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The Impatient Gardener blog was started in 2009 and its library of posts includes practical how-tos, plant guides, favorite garden gear, successes and failures and much more. If you’re looking for something specific, the search function at the top of the page can help.

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GardenOther

Gardeners’ gift guide

You have gifts to buy and I’m here to help. There’s a lot of gardening stuff out there geared toward gift giving and to be honest, a lot of it is not great. Quality matters and sometimes cute just doesn’t cut it. Gardeners are, generally speaking, a practical bunch, and most of the gardeners I know would rather have something ...

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fall limelight flowers
Garden

Rediscovering the joy of pottering about the garden

There are two possible explanations for what’s been going on outside here lately: Either the weather is completely off its rocker or I’ve forgotten what this time of year is like. After several decades of experiencing fall into winter in this particular part of the world you would have thought I’d have it down by now.  To sum up: It ...

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snowy fall garden
Garden

What would you do to save a plant?

I suppose the answer to the question posed in the title starts with “What plant?” Sure, there are plants that are special (we all have favorite plant children whether we admit it or not) that many of us would go to some length to protect. But what about replaceable plants?  There was a time where my answer the question would ...

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DIYGarden

Getting the garage in gear for winter plant storage

This post is sponsored by 3-IN-ONE® Brand, but all opinions are my own. I also take full responsibility for any messy garages that may be featured. There’s nothing like an abrupt change in seasons to get yourself in gear. Just a week ago I was sitting back, enjoying a beautiful fall day and feeling pretty smug about where I was ...

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Garden

Looking for fall color in unusual places

I might whine about winter and therefore autumn, which is guilty by association, but last weekend we had one of those magical fall days. The sun was bright and warm, the sky was that deep sapphire blue you only see in the last quarter of the year and every bit of foliage seemed to be doing its best to outshine ...

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caladiums in pot
GardenPlants

How I overwinter all the plants

Fall cleanup used to be more about making sure the tools were put away, the leaves were off the lawn and the pots were cleared out of the way to make sure they won’t get in the way of the snowblower.  I’m not sure when it happened but somewhere along the line I started collecting an awful lot of plants ...

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GardenGarden designPlants

A test garden that truly puts plants to the test

Whew.  Life has been a whirlwind lately. Right around June life always starts getting busy. There’s the usual busy-ness of summer and I managed to add to that by having a group of master gardeners tour my garden in August. And just when I thought I’d get a breather, work got busy. Somehow here we are rapidly approaching Halloween and ...

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ContainersGardenPlants

The new plants I’ll grow again, and the ones I won’t

There are gardeners who eschew new plants, and although they may have some valid arguments (among them that they are hybridized to a point where they are no longer of use to pollinators and the species is just fine), I’ll never get sick of trying new plants in the garden.  I enjoy the challenge of getting to know new plants: ...

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