It has been a difficult few weeks to be a gardener in my area. The sun is setting early (and soon to be much earlier) so there’s no time for gardening after work and the weekends have been rainy. I appreciate this late season rain, as I believe that it is best for plants to go into dormancy well hydrated, ...
It’s been awhile since I’ve done a Friday Finds, so I thought I’d pop in quickly to share some of my favorites for the week. First off, a bit of a programming note. I haven’t been posting a lot lately simply because it’s been one of those busy times in life. I was out of town last week (in beautiful ...
It’s been a busy late summer so I haven’t spent as much time on the internet as I might have otherwise and therefore there wasn’t a lot of finds to share with you, but this week there’s some can’t miss stuff I want to share. First off, don’t miss the most charming little garden and plant show in Belgium, compliments ...
Have you noticed that I’ve not shown you much (or maybe anything) from the vegetable garden this year? That’s because I got so late planting stuff that even my kale is only a few inches tall. The only variety I grow anymore is lacinato, which, as you can tell from the photo above from Mackinac Island makes a pretty great ...
My head has been all over the place this week. I still feel like I haven’t gotten back in the swing of things after being gone (seriously, what is with that), and I haven’t even unpacked my bags yet. So I’m looking forward to a weekend with some time in the garden to put me back on level footing.I don’t ...
How did it get to be the middle of summer? Ugh … it’s going too fast and needs to slow down! The good part about this time of the year is that the major work in the garden is starting to wind down. That’s actually sort of funny because of course I would prefer that to have been wrapped ...
The rabbit struggles continue here. I have borrowed a few traps but the little buggers aren’t big enough to set them off. They are absolutely decimating any annuals I’ve planted in the ground and it is getting so frustrating! Deer repellent seems to have no effect on them. If you have some proven ways to manage them, I’m all ears. ...
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Thanks to Longfield Gardens for partnering with me on this post. You don’t need to look far on this blog or in my garden to know that I am mildly obsessed with dahlias and have been for a long time. And while I admire, and maybe even envy, those photos of a field with row […]
A quick note: This post is done in partnership with Longfield Gardens, where I’ve been getting my fall-planted bulbs from for probably a decade (well before they knew I existed). Thanks to Longfield for the support. All words and thoughts are, as usual, my own. Bear with me for a moment here, because I have […]
As we approach the best days of summer it seems odd to be looking back at January with a bit of envy. Certainly that feeling has nothing to do with the weather (perish the thought), but there’s a part of me that longs for the kind of blind enthusiasm that comes in the middle of […]
This post is sponsored by Troy-Bilt, maker of great equipment to whip your yard into shape and supporters of neighbors helping neighbors. As usual, all thoughts are my own. Isn’t it funny how we limit our gardens to the little square of land we own? Obviously there’s a reason for this, but if the only […]
My garden has taught me a lot of lessons, but one of the most important is that good enough is usually good enough. When perfectionist tendencies rise to the surface, the garden is the perfect place to tamp them back into place. There is only so much a control a gardener can have over what […]
Thank you to Longfield Gardens for sponsoring this post and feeding my love of dahlias. Over the next couple weeks I will go through all the dahlia tubers I overwintered and plant them up in pots along with all the new tubers I just had to have. Starting dahlias in pots works well for me […]
Spring comes painfully slow here, something that I’m alternately thankful for and tormented by. It’s nearly intolerable to see the beauty of spring, all fresh green and flowery coming to other yards in warmer areas when mine is mostly still brown. But the upside is that I always feel like I get a bit of […]
I found myself with a bit of extra time at home last summer (imagine that) and, inspired by the amazing floral designers who I see sharing their work on Instagram, I decided I would try to get a little better at making bouquets. Mind you, I don’t do anything with these bouquets other than enjoy […]
I always say that the best thing I do for my garden is get out of it. Visiting other gardens never fails to provide the kind of inspiration I can’t find anywhere else. What is always interesting is that the photos I take on these visits continue to provide inspiration long after I’ve left, as […]
Gardeners love a good story and they are particularly drawn to anything that they believe will make their plants happy. This is where companion planting comes in: gardeners want their plants to have neighbors they love. It makes us feel good. But anthropomorphism aside, a lot of commonly held companion planting theories are a bunch […]
Hello flower lovers! I’m partnering with Longfield Gardens on this post, but you know the drill: all words and dahlia obsessions are my own. We interrupt your regularly scheduled holiday activities to talk about something that is, dare I say, even more important. And if you know me, you probably know that the only thing […]
Traditionally the gift guides here have featured a wide variety of gardening-related items for a range of budgets, but this year I’m going a different direction. Everything here is from a small or independent business, and most items are hand-crafted. You can still check out my Amazon storefront. (If you use that link I may earn […]
I’ve partnered with Garrett Wade to create a custom gift guide from their selection of high-quality tools, gear and accessories. I received some products to review to better inform my list (you know I’d never recommend something I didn’t really like) and compensation for my time. If there was ever a year that called for special
My first foray into pumpkin growing has been slightly less successful than that of Ian and Stuart Paton, 59-year-old British twins who obviously know more gourd growing than I do. The brothers just broke their own giant pumpkin record in the UK with a gourd of epic proportions: 2,593.7 pounds and 20 feet in circumference. […]
