I didn’t bother to look up the history of the kissing ball, but I imagine it goes something like this: Mistletoe is ugly but people still need an excuse to kiss, so someone invented a ball covered in greens, called it a kissing ball and people started smooching under it. Works for me. Anyway, I recently took a class on ...
This is actually getting out so late that Friday Finds has most likely turned into Saturday finds. Either way, here’s my (mostly) weekly roundup of cool stuff I found on the Interwebs this week. Don’t forget to enter to win a $50 gift certificate to Uncommon Goods. I’m closing the giveaway on Monday night so the winner has time to ...
Who couldn’t use a little help with their holiday shopping at this time of year? I don’t do a lot of giveaways on the blog, but I was excited to do one for a very cool company: Uncommon Goods. This is the place to go when you need something interesting and different for a gift. I picked a few of ...
Last week I lamented the loss of more trees in our yard. The difference of the missing ash trees is dramatic. But they are gone and that’s all there is to it. I’m trying to look at this as an opportunity to plant something big and beautiful like a copper beech, a Kentucky coffeetree or any other from the amazing ...
OK folks, there’s no denying it now. The holidays are a’comin’ and they are a’comin’ quick. Don’t look now but there are only three weekends until Christmas. How is that even possible? Well never fear because there are plenty of people who are way more organized than I am and they are full of inspirational ideas for your holiday decorating. ...
You won’t believe what is happening at our house today. In fact, it was so disturbing to me that I left as quickly as I could this morning without so much as grabbing a photo of it first. More trees are coming down. Does anyone else get that sick feeling in their stomach when they have to take down a ...
My favorite holiday decorations are the ones I do outside. It’s partly because they brighten up what is otherwise a pretty dreary landscape, but also because the decorations outside, particularly the containers, provide the most decorating bang for the buck.I love how with a few collected (and some purchased) materials you can create something that is really beautiful. These containers ...
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.
One reason I was actually happy about fall was because I’ve been dying to see what my new tree, Acer japonicum acontifolium, would look like. Since it’s called the “Dancing Peacock” I was anxious to see if it lived up to its reputation. And as you can see, once it got going, it went quick, […]
Let me be clear: I’m not one of those people who loves autumn. Sure, I can appreciate a beautiful autumn day when you can take a walk through the woods, admiring the sun coming through the colorful leaves and your feet shuffling through them on the ground. But those days, especially this year, are rare. […]
I went to the bank today. This is not that exciting. Except that even though the bank is a block from my office I drove there, and not because I was feeling lazy. I had 43 pounds of change in my car (yeah, I weighed it). We have two jugs in the house. One is […]
Over at The Lettered Cottage they are giving away a leaf blower/vacuum, which is exactly what most of us need these days. They are part of the True Value DIY Blog Squad, which basically means that True Value gave them a $1,000 gift certificate to buy stuff with and then blog about the projects they […]
I’ve been looking for some bluestone inspiration online given my impending bluestone acquistion and came across a couple ideas that might be a jumping-off point for something that could work. Hopefully these will inspire someone out there to throw me a great idea. This is a path from Fine Gardening magazine that uses a whole […]
See this beautiful bluestone path? I’m about to inherit it. It is the stairway to the front door of a family member’s house that is about to be torn down. Right before the big machinery comes to take down the house, I’m going to disassemble that path and take the bluestone. But the question is, […]
That’s ivory queen allium, and I don’t think it grows in a cute little bunch like that. They are shorties, so I made sure to put them right in front, and I only got three of them (they aren’t cheap) so I clumped them all together although at right this moment I couldn’t tell you […]
There was a great article about creating great entryways in the Fine Gardening e-newsletter that showed up in my in box this morning. It’s something I’d like to do in my garden, although I have a difficult time see how I can create any kind of entryway garden here. What I may be able to […]
I’m not turning “The Impatient Gardener” into “The Clueless Home Decorator,” I swear (well, I’m trying really hard not to). But I have found a totally cool Web site that I thought some of you might be interested in knowing about. It’s called Houzz, and it’s like someone took all the cool design photos
This post is not about gardening. It’s about almost everything else. Mostly it’s just me fessing up to my weaknesses. I, apparently, am a very predictable and cyclical person. Every year, right after the Christmas decorations go away, I start thinking about gardening (oh wait, I said that this wasn’t going to be about gardening).
Since I was less than faithful about posting this summer (and trust me, it pains me to even think about refering to it in the past tense) I thought I’d just hit on a few highlights and lowlights of the season. First off, the veggie garden: This was a hoot this year! Thanks to my […]
This will be brief, but I just wanted to apologize for my extended absence … that is, if anyone is still reading this! Summer sort of took hold and then next thing you know, it’s bulb-planting season. I promise to catch you up on what’s been happening in the garden, but in the meantime, I […]
A few weeks ago I went on the local garden walk. A few of the gardens were very nice, but one in particular was a standout. This small garden was packed with lovely little spaces, just what I would want if I had a city garden. It was so charming, just like the roses over […]
The gardens outside the Grand Hotel dining room. They were filled with zinnias, marigolds, purple fountain grass, dahlias with the most enormous stems I’ve ever seen (must be the horse manure) and, of course, nasturiums. I really do. They have such pretty leaves and cheerful flowers. And since they are super easy to grow from […]
