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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.

ContainersGarden

How to combine plants with special needs in containers

Wouldn’t it be nice if you could just stick any old plant into a container with any other plant and have it be beautiful and grow perfectly? Anyone who has tried this knows it just doesn’t work that way. I scoff a little when I see some beautiful container planting in a photograph that makes absolutely zero sense because I …

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Garden

The Garden Appreciation Society Week 11 — Link up now!

We’re back on track, more or less, for this week’s Garden Appreciation Society link-up. I have to say I’m particularly happy with what I came up with this week because this is something I never would have thought to do if it weren’t for this weekly effort to appreciate the garden in a new way. Many of the container plantings seem …

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GardenPlants

The mystery is solved, aka How a California wildflower ended up in my Wisconsin garden

Before I left a couple weeks ago an exciting mystery was solved. Reader Carol Y identified the mystery plant! To back up a little, you might recall that I found three mystery plants, planted in about a triangle as though they were put there purposely, in the garden this spring. Since I had a vague recollection that that was where …

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Garden

Better late than never: The Garden Appreciation Society Week 10

Don’t worry, I have beat myself appropriately many times with a wet noodle as punishment for taking off without so much as leaving a single post in the can. I have to say, I admire bloggers who are organized enough to have a bunch of posts all lined up before they go on vacation. I’m just happy if I can …

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Garden

The Garden Appreciation Society — Week 9 — Link up!

This week’s Garden Appreciation Society bouquet is a first for me on two counts. For one, it is the first time I’ve ever had enough roses to make a bouquet from my own garden. And secondly, it is the first time I’ve endured serious pain to make a bouquet. Holy smokes these roses are thorny! These Oso Easy roses (I …

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Garden

An as-it-is tour of the garden

Last week I promised that I’d take you on an as-it-is garden tour. I’ve never done this before because I hate people to see the garden unless it’s looking in tip-top shape, which, frankly, it rarely is. But I figured after I showed you this, the state of my garden couldn’t shock you that badly (and unlike that other post, there …

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Garden

You’re no friend of mine

Well, the friend or foe mystery is, I guess, solved. The mystery plant has bloomed and it’s not one I’m familiar with. It has these insignificant maroon-colored, cup-shaped flowers and, well, that’s about it. I STILL haven’t dug it out of the garden but I blame that more on running out of time to do everything this weekend than anything else. Still, …

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Garden

The Garden Appreciation Society Week 8 — Link up!

It’s raining again. Go figure. I had to quick run outside this morning during a lull and cut a quick bouquet for this week’s Garden Appreciation Society. I think you’d be hard pressed to find a better cut flower than a peony. I mean, it’s a no brainer kind of flower, isn’t it? OK, maybe I’d put hydrangeas on top …

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