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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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Hakonechloa all gold
GardenGarden designPlants

Plant to know: Hakonechloa

Hakonechloa is one of those plants that just catches your eye. I know because it is the plant I’m most frequently asked to identify in my garden whenever I post photos that include it. It’s also a plant I would hate to be without. Hakonechloa (aka Japanese forest grass) has the distinction of being one of the few grasses that ...

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GardenOther

How to get your tools ready for gardening season

Hey gang! This post is sponsored by 3-IN-ONE®  Multi-Purpose Oil and Lava® Soap, but you know I will always tell it like it is, so all words and opinions are entirely my own. This post may also include affiliate links. Thanks for supporting the brands that support this blog. A few years ago I made a rather public resolution on ...

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Joanna Gaines garden / HGTV photo
Friday Finds

Friday Finds

It’s a difficult time of year for this gardener. Social media is full of the first signs of spring for gardeners living in other areas, but the closest we’ve come to that is a lot of rain. I lamented this in a post recently and need to take my own advice: Be patient. But I’ll tell you, the struggle is ...

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Invincibelle Limetta Hydrangea
GardenPlants

8 new plants to get excited about

It is always fun to check out new plants coming on the market. It’s not that new plants are necessarily better than old plants (although those bred to address downfalls certainly can be), but it’s just fun to see what is new and different.  Here are some new plants I’m most excited to see this year. MANDEVILLA SUN PARASOL GIANT ...

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daffodils in field
GardenPlants

Have patience, young grasshopper

This moment—right now—is when gardeners start to get really restless, particularly those of us in the northern part of the country. Our gardening brethren in warmer zones are reporting sightings of Galanthus (aka snowdrops), hellebores and crocus, and they are starting seeds indoors. But for many of us it is just too soon. Almost anything we do in the garden ...

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Troy-Bilt Storm 2690 XP
Other

Cold winter, warm hands (and oh yeah, snow removal too)

For many years we had our driveway plowed. Mostly it was great: The neighbor who did the plowing always did ours first because he knew we had to get to work early, it was cleared quickly and we didn’t have to do anything. Well, anything other than pay for it, obviously. Most winters our plowing bill was in the $500 ...

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Veggie Garden Remix by Niki Jabbour
EdiblesGarden

Growing different food for a different reason

The grocery store closest to our house and my office is closing in the next week or so. The shelves are mostly bare, and what’s left is deeply discounted. It will leave the city I grew up in (population 12,000) without a grocery store until at least the end of summer when a new store is supposed to move in. ...

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Plant to know: Climbing hydrangea
GardenPlants

Plant to know: Climbing hydrangea

Climbing hydrangea is misunderstood. It has a reputation  as a temperamental thug, one that takes too long to grow and then grows too much when it does. But have faith friends, Hydrangea anomala petiolaris is a victim of  hasty judgement. It is true that it can take a bit to get going—three to five years in many cases. For this ...

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