What a crazy week here. So much that was supposed to get done, didn’t. Work was nuts, the garden needs attention and there is this little voice in the back of my head that keeps whispering, “Hurry up and get on with summer.” This is standard operating procedure for this time of year for me and so many other people. ...
We’ve officially hit the height of Holy Crap There’s a Lot to Do in the Garden season. I’ve been taking it chunk by chunk, trying to completely finish one area before starting on another. The problem with this plan, of course, is that the other areas of the garden farther down the list are turning into jungles while they wait ...
Gosh, it’s a little crazy being post-Easter already! The next big holiday is Memorial Day! Crazy. Anyway, here’s what I’m digging this week. I like seeing interesting floral arrangements. I sort of aspire to have a clue about flower arranging, which I don’t, but I figure practicing will help. But I was confused why the water in one of my ...
What a week. Well, weeks. I have been at an uncomfortable level of “busy” lately and I can’t wait to be back to normal busy, which is my happy place. But caring for my seedlings is a wonderful break. Two times a day I check on them, making sure they are properly watered, rearranging them under lights or on the ...
The week again got away from me, but that’s no reason not share some good stuff from the web. Here’s some of my favorite finds. Gardener admission: I don’t care for asparagus. I’ll eat it if it’s roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper but I do so begrudgingly. But I know plenty of people love it and I think ...
Gosh, this week just whooshed by and so many things I had planned for the blog just didn’t happen. Next week should be better. Just a few quick Friday Finds to kick off the weekend. If you’re reading this on Friday, you still have a few hours left to enter to win one of two beautiful dahlia collections, including the ...
It is a gorgeous day in Wisconsin. The sun is shining, the high temperature may break a record and I have completely mixed feelings about that. Don’t get me wrong, I love an easy winter. But I love it during winter. There are consequences though. Last year I had Japanese beetles in my garden for the first time ever, probably ...
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Thank you to Longfield Gardens for partnering with me on this post. I’m starting to think that old gardeners can learn new tricks. I’m not sure what else would explain that for the first time, possibly in history, I have a bulb plan. Allow me to explain: Typically my bulb-purchasing strategy is to order some […]
This post is sponsored by 3-IN-ONE® Brand, but all opinions and questionable design choices are my own. Oh the poor front door. These days it just doesn’t get a lot of use. In fact the only person who’s seen it in several months is the UPS guy. But even though we might not actually be using […]
They say the first step is to admit you have a problem. So I admit it: I have a dahlia problem. I grew about 100 dahlias this year, and I estimate there were between 25 and 30 varieties. I try not to count these things too carefully because denial is easier if you don’t have […]
Longtime readers will know that that we have a pretty clear delineation of yard duties around here. I manage the garden and Mr. Much More Patient handles the lawn. So it’s rare when he weighs in on garden-related matters. But the other day he very carefully suggested that floppy plants were becoming an issue in […]
It all depends on this tomato. Whether this year’s vegetable garden is declared a success or a failure depends entirely on this lone tomato. It’s the first big slicer that I’ve picked this year, brought in to finish ripening on the windowsill, safe from critters and cracking. The tomato is Brandyfred, one of several dwarf [&hell
The facts are indisputable: I enjoy starting interesting and different flowers from seed. Doing No. 1 is a great way to create lush borders on a dime. I grew way too many plants from seed this year. Restraint is called for. Those facts all call for a brutally honest analysis of the new flowers I […]
I’ve always been a reluctant seed saver. Even though I’ve been growing flowers, vegetables and herbs from seed for many years now, I save seeds from very few of them. In some cases I’m not willing to give up any flowers in order to allow the plant to produce seed, but most of the time […]
Mr. Much More Patient recently made an observation that painfully spot on. There was a time in this gardening journey when I used to aim to be more or less finished planting by shortly after Memorial Day. Later, when the sheer volume of plants being put in the ground here got so large that was […]
This post is sponsored by 3-IN-ONE® Brand, but all opinions are my own. I might not be able to tell you what day it is (seriously: When did we get into full-blown summer?), but I know that more people than ever are gardening this year. So this post is for all you new gardeners, or […]
I regret to inform you that the enemy has broken the terms of the 2019 Rabbit Peace Accord. All rabbits are hereby put on notice that no further temporary treaties will be entered into no matter how cute baby bunnies are. For many years I enjoyed a gardening existence that was delightfully free of rabbits. […]
Thank you to long-time sponsor Troy-Bilt for partnering with me on this post. As usual, all words and ideas are my own. Let’s be honest, every yard and garden has its problems, and, especially at this time a lot of people are trying to solve them. We’re spending more time at home, and noticing all […]
My patio is full of plants, and more are on the way. It’s a sure sign of two things: First, a new garden is underway, and second, I am, predictably, quite behind. I always have an excuse for this, but I feel like this year it’s more legitimate than usual. We had a rather significant flood […]
A lot of people are ordering plants online this year, and although I’ll always suggest you check an independent garden center first, there are a lot of reasons to order online (from what are almost always also family-owned small businesses). But if you’re new to ordering online, it can be a little scary. Fortunately, I’ve [&hell
I own very few things that anyone will be interested in when I go to the great garden in the sky, but there is one possession that is so dear to me that I’ll have to find just the right person to bequeath it to. I don’t expect that the lucky person who inherits it […]
