I returned home this past weekend after 10 days away from my garden. Things faired far better this year than previous years, thanks in part to the crazy, ongoing rain we’ve had. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen lawns so green in mid-July before. There’s always a lot of weeding and cutting back that happens after more than a few ...
I’m leaving my garden. Not permanently; perish the thought as I actually had a nightmare to this effect a few weeks ago. Nope, I’m just going out of town for little bit. But it’s difficult to leave at this time of year. The garden is looking good. And between the heat of summer and the plentiful rain we’ve been getting ...
It’s more or less the middle of the gardening season here in my zone 5 garden. It’s the point at which some areas of the garden are cruising along and others, neglected still, are looking worse than ever. They’ll be dealt with when time, temperature and the mosquito population allows. The urge is to sit back, relax and enjoy the ...
I have a bit of a love affair with clematis going. I can’t explain this, other than by saying I find them to be very satisfying plants to grow. And I’m not alone. As I read and learn more about this great family of plants, I discover that there are a lot of people who are under its spell. And ...
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 ...
When I hear about structure in the garden, my mind immediately goes to what I consider the backbone of a garden design: trees, large shrubs and structures. These typically create the framework around which the rest of the garden falls into place. But a relatively new-to-me plant has me rethinking the idea of where structure comes from in a ...
It’s been a while since I updated you on the progress of the circle garden, but it’s really coming along. The brief history of this garden, which sits right by the front door, is that it was a weedy patch of dirt with a few perennials in it when we bought the house. I resurrected it as an oval garden ...
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It’s been a while since I’ve done a Friday Finds post and I’ve missed them. First, a little programming note. My YouTube channel is gone. What happened to it is a bit of a mystery that starts with bizarre, profanity-laden threats from a random person on YouTube and ends with my channel being gone a […]
After a lot of talking about planting window boxes, the weather finally (if briefly) improved enough to actually do it. This year I aimed for a slightly more restrained color palette (blue/purple, lime green and a touch of orange) and fewer plants. In the past I’ve jammed so many plants in the window box that […]
We’ve been caught in a crazy weather cycle all spring. We’ll have days of weather doing exactly what it is supposed to do here this time of year followed by days of intense cold. All of that has made gardening a little challenging, but it has been enough to turn the grass a brilliant green. […]
Someone just pointed out to me today that Monday is the beginning of June. I can hardly believe it. I feel like I have been complaining, or at least commenting on how busy life has been every time I write a post, so you won’t hear that from me today. I’ll just say that I […]
Sorry I’ve been blogging so intermittently lately; things are busier than I would like and I have been working on this week’s window box post for a really long time! Anyway, allow me to catch you up on what’s happening. First off, the most exciting thing to happen in my garden perhaps ever. Do you […]
Designing containers is one of my favorite parts of gardening. There are so many options and there’s so much less commitment than designing a garden: You get to redo it every year. Pretty much everyone knows about the thriller, spiller, filler method of designing containers and although this isn’t the only way, it’s a pretty [&hel
I posted this photo on Instagram over the weekend because it’s just that ridiculous. No, I’m not growing a bumper crop of lattes (although that would lovely). What you see here, this odd coffee-cup graveyard of sorts, was about plan C for this little area of the yard. It started with this post on A […]
Quick giveaway notes: The winner of the Perfect Garden Hose is Linnae! Congratulations, Linnae. Check your email. The rest of the giveaways are still open. The next to close is the giveaway of the A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife. There is efficient gardening and then there is the kind of gardening you do when a […]
It’s the final day of my favorite giveaways and I want to thank you for participating this week. If you haven’t already entered to win all the great items I’m giving away, you still can. I’m leaving every giveaway open for a week from when they began, but just enter them all now and then […]
I’m so excited about today’s giveaway because this one is a life changer. Once you lay your hands on this, you will never look at gardening tools the same way again. But let me start with this: You deserve great gardening tools. I think way too many gardeners are quick to pick up a tool […]
Welcome to Day 3 of my favorite giveaways, where I’m giving away all the gardening stuff I love best. Today I’m giving something I guarantee will make your garden grow better. I know you just rolled your eyes. Or scoffed. Or thought, “She’s nuts.” You may be right on that last one, but hear me […]
Don’t forget this is the week of all my favorite giveaways. Click here to for the soil knife giveaway and here for the Perfect Garden Hose. …………………………………………………….. I garden in cycles. Every couple years, I create a new garden
I’ve written about the prize for the second day of giveaways this week so many times on the blog, regular readers are probably sick of hearing about it. But the fact is, you’ll rarely find me in the garden without a hori hori (or a soil knife, if you prefer the term). A hori hori […]
Every day this week I’m giving away one of my favorite gardening tools. I’ve written about all of them and I’m hoping that whoever the lucky winner of each item is will share my enthusiasm and fall just as in love with these tools as I am. I’m kicking off this big week by giving […]
