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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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Friday Finds

FRIDAY FINDS

I’m on a really good streak with books. I’m reading Dear Friend and Gardener: Letters on Life and Gardening and although I’m only halfway through it (I’m taking my time with it, savoring every page), I just know this is going to be one of those books I go back to and may become one of my favorites. It is ...

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Garden

REVELING IN A GARDEN VICTORY

There is something rather momentous going on in my garden right now: Lavender is blooming. For those of you who successfully grow lavender, this probably doesn’t seem like something worth dedicating a blog post to. With lavender, it seems, you either have it, or you don’t. I’ve struggled with growing lavender for years, which is why my path is lined ...

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Cottage

YET ANOTHER BLUE DOOR

So I painted another door. By now, this should come as absolutely no surprise to you. When I get an itch, I paint something and 99% of the time it’s a door. What can I say? They are easy and you get a lot of bang for your buck. BEFORE (Wythe Blue door) AFTER (New York State of Mind door) ...

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Friday Finds

FRIDAY FINDS: SUMMER IN THE GARDEN

One of the weekends I was gone in mid-July also happened to be the weekend that every garden tour in southeastern Wisconsin was held (or so it seemed), and I missed them all. What a bummer. Fortunately, last night I toured two fabulous gardens as part of our annual master gardener garden crawl. I’m now full of ideas for how ...

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Garden

NO MATTER THE FUSS, SWEET PEAS ARE WORTH IT

This spring I grew more flowers from seed than I ever have before. The process was incredibly rewarding and I feel like my garden looks better than it ever has, in part due to all the plants I produced from seed. Among those flowers were sweet peas, which have a reputation for being a bit particular about their conditions. I ...

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Garden

CONTAINER SURGERY (LIKE A NOSE JOB GONE WRONG)

And just like that, it’s August. It’s almost impossible to fathom that we’re at the beginning of what I once considered the last month of summer. The weather, though, is changing from what it was like in my childhood, and since I’m not personally tied to school schedules, more and more, my idea of summer continues right through September. We ...

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Garden

VIDEO REVIEW: TROY-BILT HORSE XP TRACTOR

Earlier this year I told you about the Troy-Bilt Horse XP Tractor, and now I’m showing you a little more about it. Get ready for a video full of the inner workings of a lawn mower, mowing to music, creative and possibly dangerous camera angles, dive-bombing dragonflies (we had a huge dragonfly hatch around here when we were making the ...

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Cottage

A DOSE OF FUN COLOR JUST FOR SUMMER

We’ve been enjoying the most amazing stretch of gorgeous summer weather here in southeastern Wisconsin. Save for the fact that we could really use some rain, there is absolutely nothing to complain about. We’ve been savoring every possible moment of it (I seriously try to soak it in and save it for a few months from now), taking walks on ...

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