I don’t do a lot of partnerships with companies, but I’ve recently entered into one. Because this is a departure for the blog, I thought the best way to deal with it is to tell you what it is, what it isn’t and what it means for The Impatient Gardener. Over the last seven years, I’ve been approached by a ...
Not too long ago I offered absolution of garden shopping sins and many of you took me up on that offer (don’t worry, I’m an ordained minister of the Internet Church of the Garden so I’m entirely qualified to offer such absolution). I felt so much better about it that I ordered 40 willow rods the other day, and I ...
Now THAT was a weekend. Temperatures here nudged up to 40 this weekend, birds were singing, the sun had warmth and I got a few more garden chores taken care of. I got the last Limelight hydrangea pruned and it feels good to have that job finished. I also covered up the raised vegetable beds and the compost pile with ...
Things are looking up, folks. Meteorological spring started this week (although it’s clear that Mother Nature laughs in the face of so-called meteorological spring), the clocks go forward tomorrow night (yawn), the sun has actual warmth and I’m taking a fun little trip next week that I’m very much looking forward to telling you about. Oh, and “Gardeners’ World” starts ...
It might have been 15 degrees last weekend but I was bound and determined to garden, and garden I did. I actually had a very legitimate reason to garden: hydrangea pruning time. I love hydrangeas and have a lot of them, but the only kind I’ve added in the last seven years or so are either so-called smooth hydrangeas (Hydrangea ...
There was a time when Renee Shepherd’s business was mostly about flowers. But these days she’s thinking about rutabaga and celeriac more than zinnias and cosmos. Shepherd has been in the seed business for more than 25 years and has owned Renee’s Garden since 1998, so it’s safe to say that she has a good idea about what is going ...
Like much of the country we have been in a deep freeze this week. This kind of weather is such a challenge this time of year because by mid-February we fool ourselves into thinking that spring is right around the corner. I’m going to a gardening seminar this weekend so I’ll get my dose of spring in that way, I ...
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.
I have some great posts from the Proven Winners Outdoor Living Extravaganza in the works, but I ran off to Texas to go sailing and didn’t have time to finish them like I thought I would. And now I’m laid low with some sort of epic illness. Anyway, here’s my luck for you … it […]
W hen I saw that the senior associate garden editor of Martha Stewart Living Magazine was on the slate of speakers for the Proven Winners Outdoor Living Extravaganza that I went to last weekend, I’ll admit I had a preconceived idea of what Stacey Hirvela was going to be like: prim, proper and, well, very […]
T hat is how pathetic my French language skills are. I’ve been wanting to post for a couple days and could not figure out how to say anything catchy in French. I’ve finally given up trying. Anyway, I was in Marseille on business for two and a half days last week. Unfortunately about 20 hours […]
F or almost five years now I’ve been an almost entirely organic gardener. The caveat is there because I keep a bottle of Roundup in the garage for particularly offensive weeds that seem immune to the more friendly ways of deals with their demise. No more. The Roundup is going away (through my county’s hazardous […]
Spring really is right around the corner, well that’s what people tell me anyway. It doesn’t feel a lot like spring since I’m looking out on a foot of snow covering everything, but I know things start warming up quickly. Next weekend, though, is going to feel a LOT like spring, because I’m heading off […]
W ith the table finally the right length (but not yet finished), it was time to turn my attention to the area on the other side of the door, aka, the dumping ground. As I’ve mentioned before, we have no proper entryways into our house and neither door to the outside has a closet within […]
R emember how I got this slightly damaged table for a great deal at the Restoration Hardware outlet? Well, it’s been hanging out in our basement waiting for the kitchen project to get on track. We brought it upstairs and set it up. You might not be able to tell from this picture (ignore […]
A lot of gardeners have been blogging about ordering their seeds lately. Some of them take a strategic approach to the whole thing. Margaret at A Way to Garden orders from about a half-dozen companies. Carol at May Dreams Gardens ordered so many seeds she couldn’t keep track of them. I’m sure both of […]
I t’s official: I am the worst person in the world when it comes to taking “before” pictures. I get halfway through a project and think, “Oh shoot, I should have taken a picture.” So about halfway through I take a photo. Or worse yet, it’s too late and I have to look through all […]
T here’s hope that winter may end after all. I just placed my order with Dixondale Farms for onion starts. I was so happy with their long-day sweet sampler last year that I ordered it again, although this year they’ve changed up some of the varieties they include in it. I’ll miss the Walla Wallas, […]
Is it possible to request your own intervention? Because I need it. Perhaps it has become clear through some of my posts, but I have a tendency to get hung up on things. Like REALLY hung up. Once I set my mind to solving some issue, I become obsessed with it. All free time is […]
I t’s rather shocking that it’s February and I actually have something for Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, held on the 15th of the month by Carol at May Dream Gardens. I guess getting a late start on the amaryllis bulbs paid off in at least one respect. (To see the other amaryllis I kept, which […]
The Impatient Gardener needs a bit of inspiration so I’m heading south to find it. And while I have nothing exciting to talk about I just thought it was pretty wild that I can actually do a blog post at cruising altitude thanks to onboard wifi. Crazy stuff. Be prepared though … after a week […]
Y ou may recall that I started the amaryllis bulbs a little late this year (making up for starting them way to early the year before). In mid-December they looked like this: I gave most of them away as Christmas presents. The one (well two, actually) that I gave my mom (in the galvanized container […]
