Before I get into today’s post, I just wanted to say thank you to you all. The ideas you’ve been sharing on the office plan have been amazing and really inspiring. I can’t wait to incorporate many of them into the office. Since it is the first official day of autumn (groan), I thought it would be appropriate to talk ...
For those who have been following the great tomato race, which isn’t officially a race but rather a quest for bragging rights between my mom and I at the community garden plot we share specifically for the purpose of growing tomatoes, I have good news and bad news for those of you on Team Erin. Here’s the good news: See ...
Before we get to this post, I just wanted to mention that I did a little tree planting 101 tutorial on The Design Confidential yesterday. Basically you shouldn’t do anything you’ve ever seen a city tree planter do, but check it out if you’re looking for some info on planting the framework of your yard. Late last week, I ...
Midwesterners are professional weather crabbers. That is to say, complaining about the weather is pretty much our main hobby. The first sentence out of the mouth of many a midwestern baby has been, “Hot enough for ya?” or of course, “Cold enough for ya?” And that’s pretty much what we say for the rest of our lives. It’s basically what ...
There. I admitted it. They say that’s the first step. I don’t, however, think I’m alone in this. For some reason the quest for the perfect tomato, or better yet, bushels of perfect tomatoes, seems to be a pretty common theme among gardeners and I’m right there with them. My home veggie garden is certainly a great improvement over how ...
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 new veggie garden, I really ...
For the first time in my life I’m going to try my hand at vegetable gardening. Well, not the first time. When I was a kid my mom gave my brother and I some space in her veggie garden to grow things that are satisfying for kids to grow. In our case it was radishes. I detest radishes, but fortunately ...
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.
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 […]
