I hear that snowstorms have hit many of you, and that a bunch of snow is set to dump all over my region sometime late this week. What better time to get excited about seedstarting? This weekend marks Montreal’s 10th Annual Seed Fair (aka Seedy Saturday & Sunday). It’s a two day affair featuring free workshops [...]
Gardening
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You Grow Girl: The Dirt
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10th Annual Montreal Seed Fair
9 Feb 2010 | 7:27 am -
Cyclamen Coum
8 Feb 2010 | 7:00 am -
Me & Barry at Richters Apparently Agonizing Over a Plant [Flickr]
6 Feb 2010 | 5:54 pmyougrowgirl posted a photo: Serious business. I did buy this plant. The one in my box though. Not the one Barry is holding. Photo taken by Davin -
Pretty Little Daffodils
5 Feb 2010 | 5:29 am -
Caladium in the Lawn
4 Feb 2010 | 8:30 amYou know, I’ve never much cared for caladium. They’ve always been a “whatever” plant in my book, a humdrum bit of foliage most often seen crammed into decorative baskets and seasonal greenhouse exhibits. Who cares? (Perhaps many of you. In which case, I’m a monster and a tasteless fool. Sorry.) In all honesty, my eyes [...]
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The Casual Gardener
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“Our Vegetable Love” – Valentine’s Day Advice On How A Garden Can Rekindle Love
9 Feb 2010 | 5:41 amToday’s terrific guest blogger is George Ball, Jr., CEO of the W.Atlee Burpee Seed Company. George is a regular blogger at the Heronswood Voice Blog. His passionate belief in the power of a garden has spurred him on to make a real difference in the world. Next week we might remind ourselves that love is not rocket science. No, it’s way more difficult. Albert Einstein put the question, “How on earth are you ever going to explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love?” We are still waiting for his answer. I would imagine, should one gaze… -
Chicago Botanic Garden Plant Conservation Science Center – Saving the Planet Through Research and Conservation!
8 Feb 2010 | 1:33 pmOn the cover of the Chicago Botanic Garden’s (CBG) map and garden guide it says, “Plant Science Will Save The Planet.” After visiting The Daniel F. and Ada L. Rice Plant Conservation Science Center, I agree that educating the public on this amazing process will be critical to the earth’s future. Julie McCaffrey, Senior Media Relations Specialist, gave me a wonderful tour of the newly renovated Plant Science Center. She and I hopped on an electric cart and jetted over to the state-of-the-art building. First thing she pointed out was that the floors in the halls behind the scenes were… -
Healthy Brain Food; How Burpee Seed is Building Positive Mental Health With a New Year's Resolution Garden
1 Feb 2010 | 5:59 am“Making a healthy difference in a community is possible with a garden,” says George Ball, Jr., CEO of the W. Atlee Burpee & Company seed business (Burpee). On this last day of January, a time when many of us give up on our New Year’s Resolutions, it seems particularly important to interview George Ball, Jr. and discuss keeping those resolutions. Ball came up with the fantastic idea of packaging his company’s seed offerings in the form of a New Year's Resolution Garden to encourage better health – not just an ordinary garden – this is a special idea inspiring green and… -
Are Your Plants Surviving Harsh Winter Weather? Get Some Michelin Man Zen
30 Jan 2010 | 6:28 amDear Casual Gardener, I’m worried that my perennials will not survive the sub-zero weather we’ve been having. I planted them last fall and mulched only lightly. Now I’m in a panic wondering if I should add anything extra on top of the beds to assist their survival? Signed, Sub-Zero in Suburbia Dear Sub-Zero, WOW! Is it cold!! With record warmth throughout the country in December and early January (as well as for the last several winters) many gardeners are asking: "Will the cold weather hurt my trees, bushes and perennial plants?" The snow cover most have had should… -
Queen Anne’s Lace – Garden or Not?
26 Jan 2010 | 6:01 amHere it is: a field of Queen Anne’s Lace. Is it a garden? Is it an invasive mess? Is it beautiful? Is it worth keeping or shall we dig it up? What say you? Garden or not? Shawna Coronado says Get Healthy! Get Green! Get Community! www.thecasualgardener.com, The Green Blog - www.gardeningnude.com, or The Garden Blog - http://thecasualgardener.blogspot.com
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Cold Climate Gardening
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January Thaw Discoveries: Plants
7 Feb 2010 | 9:31 amThe January thaw of last week provided me with an opportunity to “check under the hood”–or, in this case, under the snow cover. It’s always thought provoking, prompting me to think about how different plants respond to this cold season. I saw this snapdragon last time we had a thaw. It was in better shape then This snapdragon looked perkier the last time I saw it. I don’t think it will make it till spring. This foxglove was a seedling last year Here’s the biggest of several foxglove rosettes that I saw in various places. Sometimes they can look great all… -
The Great Houseplant Census of 2010
2 Feb 2010 | 1:53 pmMr. McGregor’s Daughter, in an effort to promote domestic harmony*, has requested gardeners everywhere to tally up the number of plants they currently have growing inside. Here are my results: Outdoor Plants Wintering Over 1 rosemary 1 ‘Rehoku Sunrise’ carex (an experiment) 1 apple seedling (my middle daughter’s experiment) 1 orange tree grown from seed by my 16 year old son Year Round Houseplants 4 Aloe vera 2 Christmas cactus 1 Thanksgiving cactus 1 ivy (my eldest daughter’s) 1 stem of wandering Jew, rooting in water (also my eldest daughter’s) Forced… -
Edible Blue Honeysuckle: A Fruit for Cold Climates
26 Jan 2010 | 6:07 pmMy first introduction to Clayton was his comment on my post about cold climate seeds. On his recommendation I checked out the links in his sidebar. That’s how I found out he grows edible blue honeysuckle, a fruit that is extremely hardy. I thought my readers would like to know more about it, so I asked him to write a guest post. Edible Blue Honeysuckle – A New Dream Crop for Prairie Berry and Fruit Growers If you have been searching the internet lately, you may have come across this title on a blog about growing this very interesting fruit plant. The blog is my personal story… -
January Thaw: A Video
25 Jan 2010 | 2:16 pmWhat happens when the snow melts in the middle of winter? I made a brief video to show you: Some roads and a few low bridges have flooded, forcing early school closings and rerouting traffic. A thaw in January is common, but rain doesn’t always accompany it. Sometimes it is brilliantly sunny, inspiring snowball fights in shirt sleeves. A thaw like this is similar to what happens in mud season–except we know winter isn’t over yet. Despite warming up to over 50F today, it will drop below freezing tonight and there’s a chance of snow flurries. -
Seventh Annual Great Gardens and Landscaping Symposium
22 Jan 2010 | 1:00 pmKerry Mendez just emailed me about the Great Gardens and Landscaping Symposium: “Six dynamic garden lectures by nationally recognized speakers, great handouts, food, door prizes, and garden gifts. The event takes place at The Equinox Resort in Manchester, VT. Overnight packages and day only rates available. Speakers include garden designer Julie Moir Messervy; Charlie Nardozzi of the National Gardening Association; Joe Kunkel, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Horticultural Society and past President of the Perennial Plant Association; Heather Poire from Proven Winners; and…
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A Way to Garden
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grow your own 2010: it starts with a seed order
7 Feb 2010 | 4:11 amI AM A PROPONENT OF GROWING YOUR OWN; you just have to check my freezer and pantry the last couple of decades to see that. But a vegetable garden is not without its costs or its commitments—cash and elbow grease both required, and then some. Vegetable harvests, like money, don’t grow on trees. This year, [...] Related posts:solid gold: ordering seed for flashy ‘green’ beans ISEE A THREAD RUNNING THROUGH MY VEGETABLE-SEED ORDERS, and it’s... my seed-catalog shopping rules RESTRAINT IS NOT MY STRONG SUIT, but when faced with... working on my seed-catalog list: any favorites? I EMAILED… -
doodle by andre: shelter in a storm
3 Feb 2010 | 8:05 pmIF FOR EVEN A MOMENT ANY ONE OF YOU THINKS OF A WAY TO GARDEN as the shelter in dear Andre’s latest doodle, then I am one happy garden writer. I know at the start of the difficult season we said we’d stick together, and we have. From all the blog activity these last months–your [...] Related posts:doodle by andre: a postcard for the garden THIS WEEK’S DOODLE IS REALLY A POSTCARD, one to send... doodle by andre: happy anniversary to us! WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DOODLE MAKES. Sixteen months ago I... doodle by andre: shear ingrates AFTER ALL THAT TENDER CLIPPING AND GENTLE… -
finally waking up to ‘riesentraube’ tomato
3 Feb 2010 | 4:49 pmI MUST HAVE CUT CLASS WHEN ‘RIESENTRAUBE’ TOMATO was in the lesson plan. But how could I have missed or slept through what looks to be such a spectacular small-fruited tomato, especially one that’s been around for more than a century? Thanks to my old friend Southern Exposure Seed Exchange (source of the photo, left), [...] Related posts:more tomato secrets NO VEGETABLE IS MORE COMMONLY GROWN by home gardeners than... tomato grafting: a tactic for heirloom success? ICOUNT TOMATO GRAFTING AMONG MY NEWEST OBSESSIONS. I know, I... thinking tomatoes a tad early I KNOW, TOMATO WEEK (FOOD… -
toasting relocated ‘chucks on groundhog day
1 Feb 2010 | 8:01 pmLET’S RAISE A GLASS TODAY TO RELOCATED GROUNDHOGS, toasting the ones we managed somehow to outsmart. That’s one such captive in the garbage can, above—remember?—about to be literally driven away from the garden, a highlight of my year in 2009. Happy Groundhog Day. It will be another “Just Say No to Woodchucks” year here at [...] Related posts:‘trying to fool mother nature’ ON GROUNDHOG DAY I am always reminded of another holiday:... -
pondering a bout of mid-winter pruning
1 Feb 2010 | 8:24 amIF THE BIG CHILL BACKS OFF A BIT MORE, I MIGHT GO PRUNE—at least remove the water sprouts that jut up vertically from branches of older fruit trees and magnolias here, and will never amount to anything but a mess that casts shade and wastes energy. I thought I’d remind you to look for opportunities [...] Related posts:from the forums: pruning viburnums WHEN TO PRUNE VIBURNUMS? That timely question was raised this... pruning roundup: what shrubs i prune when WHAT NOT TO DO IS AS IMPORTANT many times as... pruning lilacs EXCEPT IN THE warmest zones, where they are basically disinclined...
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The Occasional Gardener
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Rejuvenated
1 Feb 2010 | 1:29 pmWhile NYC dips into temperatures below freezing again, I continue to work on designs for Summer 2011 and thought I would share an interesting trend prediction from Li Edelkoort's recent presentation - water. Not just aesthetically as in color palettes drawn from rivers, reefs, pools, oceans, mermaids and the like but also conceptually- as a symbol of rejuvenation.She says it is now time to open the sluice of creativity and let flow the new ideas that we have held back for too long. Yeah! With gardening there's actually been a few years of fairly visionary new ideas - vertical gardens,… -
Turquoise 15-5519
29 Jan 2010 | 6:42 pmI just got round to noting Pantone's color of the year for 2010 - Turquoise 15-5519. My first garden related thought about the color was- Kyles' pot. Kyle, an artist friend living in Rhode Island that I visited while on vacation this year had the most beautiful collection of ceramic pots dotted all round her house all of which I photographed badly- they were all blurry except this one- the large turquoise planter she had strategically placed in front of her orange front door. Her painterly eye coordinated an eclectic mix of plants with a palette that worked particularly well, lit by the… -
Verbena Notes
26 Jan 2010 | 12:11 pmI love Verbena Bonariensis. I love the lanky stilt stalks - see how they catch the evening September light here ( taken at the NYBG ). I tried last year with seed sown directly into the beds. Nothing showed up. I had them in my London garden and they were phenomenal, tall, thick clumps but still airy and lacy and able to thread through all kinds of other plants. Note to self- research this a little more and try again this year.I also love the smell of Lemon Verbena, which is in the same family but a different plant Aloysia citriodora. It's my regular soap, and occasional candle. It's the… -
How Will Your Garden Grow?
14 Jan 2010 | 1:09 pmBack in 1998 I bought a computer- a Mac. I patiently waited for AOL dial up to get on the internet, struggled through a manual to learn Photoshop and breathlessly read Wired magazine's predictions about what this all meant for the future. Would all this technology really allow me to unplug myself from the corporate world, create a micro enterprise, self publish and interact with people in extraordinarily new ways. Yes, it really did. Certainly not as quickly as the pundits were predicting and no fortunes have been made - yet. I have this strange deja vu feeling that there's a change cycle… -
New Year Star
5 Jan 2010 | 11:54 amI went up to Mamaroneck on new year's day for a party and was charged to gather up whatever I could from the garden to spruce up the festivities. A quick walkabout yielded some red berries that went nicely with some pine branches. Then a range of dried hydrangeas and dried alliums made quite a pretty vase in a subtle wintry palette -the hydrangeas still had a tint of color- unfortunately I didn't get a good picture. But best of all and most surprising of all- the Star Magnolia was full of buds. These had been moved around the previous year, sulked last year and it looks like they are back…
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Doug Green's Blog
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Random Thoughts on a Sunday Morning
7 Feb 2010 | 8:13 amHere are a few random thoughts from my week. I’ve been reading Anderson’s “Free” yesterday and today and am intrigued with the question of what a writer/creative offers to people when the cost of finding content is pretty close to zero. I’m working on that issue now (it’s probably in the experiential part of the equation). My two latest projects are moving along. The virtual garden is up and running on the server and I’m delighted with having a backup after I mess it all up. I expect to start bringing a few friends into play with it towards the end of… -
Backing Up Computers
1 Feb 2010 | 5:54 amAnybody who hasn’t lost data with a computer crash – from email to book manuscripts – please raise their hand. You there – in the back row – ahh, you’ve only been on the Net for a week now…. For the rest of us – here’s how I now guard against the loss of data. And yeah, I’ve lost more than I want to consider in a recent switch to the Apple system – and various hard drive failures or backup hard drive failures. (The last one was when I took my backup dual hard drive server in for repairs and they wiped the wrong damn disk but… -
Men and Women on Flower Color
25 Jan 2010 | 9:13 amYeah, right. So… In a study published in Published in HortScience 45: 78-82 (2010) © 2010 American Society for Horticultural Science by Chengyan Yue and Bridget K. Behe You can see this summary here. Men and women prefer different flower colors. Yeah, anybody in the nursery industry can tell you that but here are a few lines from the summary info. Multinomial logit analysis of single-stem cut flower purchases showed that men and women differed in their cut flower color preferences but that flower color preference also varied with demographic characteristics and by occasion. The highest… -
Avoiding Twitter
22 Jan 2010 | 5:52 amDear Fred You asked me how my experiment with avoiding Twitter was going and I thought I’d take a few minutes to whip off a well-considered reply (yeah, that’s sarcasm) Long and short of it all – I’ve discovered the next thing in communication – comes with both hardware and software and I predict it will revolutionize communication as we know it. It’s called a voice – and interestingly enough, when you use it properly, people tend to stop and actually pay attention to what you’re saying. Friggin fantastic. But no, I haven’t missed Twitter much. I’m sure I’m… -
i-Tree software
19 Jan 2010 | 2:04 pmAnd I quote: i-Tree is a state-of-the-art, peer-reviewed software suite from the USDA Forest Service that provides urban forestry analysis and benefits assessment tools. The i-Tree Tools help communities of all sizes to strengthen their urban forest management and advocacy efforts by quantifying the structure of community trees and the environmental services that trees provide. This would be a very useful software set for individuals or community tree folks – note the download button is on the top of the page not on the bottom where you normally would expect it. I haven’t…
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About.com Gardening
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Magnolias - Spring Flowering Charmers
8 Feb 2010 | 5:01 pmA few weeks back, I wrote about growing fig trees in colder climates. We were talking about the extreme cautions gardeners take to protect their fig trees in winter. Kitty informed us that there are fig trees out there that have been bred to be hardy as far north as USDA Zone 5. She recommended 'Chicago Hardy'. Magnolia trees can also be over looked by northern gardeners. Magnolias are associated with the Old South and a gentler lifestyle. Magnolias are a natural choice in the South, but there are plenty of magnolia trees for cooler climates and less hospitable locations. David Beaulieu has… -
Stop and Smell the Roses
7 Feb 2010 | 5:30 pmA lot of roses are being ordered this week. Getting roses is a wonderful treat, especially in winter. Maybe it's got you thinking about ordering a few rose bushes? We all know that roses aren't a holiday treat for gardeners. Every garden should have at least one rose bush. And if it can be an old fashioned fragrant rose bush, all the better. Here are my Top 10 Great Roses for Fragrance, to add to your garden. Read more: Roses for Fragrance Roses for Partial Shade Best Hybrid Tea Roses 2010 All America Rose Selections Photo of 'Easy Does It' Rose Provided by AARS Stop and Smell the Roses… -
Companion Planting for Tomatoes
6 Feb 2010 | 5:06 pmI've always found the idea of companion planting fascinating. I wouldn't swear it always works, but I suspect there's a lot more substance to it than its detractors will admit. Gardeners have been fine tuning it for years and there's no substitute for experience. Today I'm combining two of my gardening loves: growing tomatoes and companion planting. I culled through a few dozen articles and books and my own experience and pulled together my list of companion plants for tomatoes. Since you're going to grow some of these plants anyway, why not experiment with growing them together? There's… -
Where Do All the Aphids Come From?
5 Feb 2010 | 5:09 pmWhere on earth do all those aphids come from? Seriously, how do they find their way into our homes in the dead of winter? What were they living on until I so graciously started some seedlings? What they lack in size, they make up in numbers. Debbie Hadley, About's Guide to Insects, says "...a single aphid could produce 600 billion descendants in one season." What chance does a gardener have against those kinds of odds? And they apparently have some type of twisted relationship with ants, who protect them in order to get their fix of honeydew. Debbie sheds some light on these little suckers of… -
Featured Plant: Four O’Clock (Mirabilis jalapa)
4 Feb 2010 | 5:00 pmI've yet to plant an evening garden, probably because the bugs come out at night, but I have a list of flowers I'd love to include in one, in the future. White flowers top the list for evening gardens. Of course there's moonflower, evening stock and night blooming cereus. But also near the top of the list is Mirabilis jalapa 'Alba'. Four O'Clocks do indeed bloom sometime around four o'clock in the evening and they stay in bloom through the night. I've read that night blooming flowers do so because they are pollinated by moths. I can't confirm that, so if any of you have any knowledge of this,…
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Home Gardening News
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Book gets kids interested in gardening
9 Feb 2010 | 6:46 amChanneling his inner "kinder," Michael Glassman found a way to get kids into gardening. -
Traditional favourites to grow from seed Gardening News & Views
9 Feb 2010 | 2:25 amTHE very name 'cottage garden' conjures up a picture postcard image of roses growing around the doorway of a pretty rural cottage with traditio nal favourites such as digitalis, hollyhocks and delphiniums, growing in the surrounding beds. -
Gardena gardening class to focus on native vegetation
8 Feb 2010 | 10:02 pmThe next gardening class in the "Out of the Wilds and Into Your Garden" series will be about planting native vegetation. -
20 Valentine's Day Dates For Under $20
8 Feb 2010 | 5:33 pmShowing your love doesn't have to be expensive. Here are some Valentine's Day ideas that won't break the bank. -
For Chiot's Run and Other Gardeners: Gardening for Victory
8 Feb 2010 | 1:05 pmDigging for Victory . We will need to do this to gain victory over Obama's hell-bent socialist policies, present and future.
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Plant Whatever Brings You Joy
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Letter to my Winter Body
7 Feb 2010 | 2:28 pmDearest Winter Body, You may have noticed the buds abounding in the garden. Yes. In spite of the chill temperatures and days and days of pounding unrelenting rain, spring is moving forward with its blessed perennial plan. I’m sure you’ve seen the signs. The crocuses next door. The quince in the back of the garden. The volunteer lettuces, which so graciously reseeded themselves for the second year in a row. Oh, yes. I counted a dozen or so just this week, amidst the sprouting arugula (and a weed or two!). And no doubt you’ve seen the campanula, which will before long be… -
Wild Violets
26 Jan 2010 | 6:19 pmIn winter the gardener’s eye is scanning the landscape for anything and everything that will fill our enormous desire for the beauty to which we are treated all summer. And thus one is inclined to see what might otherwise have been lost in the splendor of roses and hydrangea, of trumpet vine and forsythia. Attention now focuses here on the lowly wild violet. I cherish this time of year as there is a large section of the front lawn that bursts with these tiny purple treasures and I delight in their beauty, fortitude, and resilience. But until this week I have to admit to having taken… -
Baking
16 Jan 2010 | 2:09 pmPumpkin bread just prior to baking Setting up the Best Brownie Recipe Contest taught me something I did not know. Far fewer women are baking. How could that be? I began this post by looking at what baking is, precisely. Here’s what wiki told me: Baking is the technique of prolonged cooking of food by dry heat acting by convection, and not by radiation, normally in an oven, but also in hot ashes, or on hot stones. It is primarily used for the preparation of bread, cakes, pastries and pies, tarts, quiches, and cookies. In short, this is a very very old process. Indeed, when humankind… -
Calendar Girl!
9 Jan 2010 | 7:16 pmI was just about to check out of the health food store when I glanced into the basket of the woman in front of me and saw a calendar. Oh, yes. Need one of those. So popped out of line back over to the goodly assortment available at front of the store. And grinned when I saw this. Oh, how perfect! And immediately not only wanted to buy it for my kitchen, but to write about it. Kitsap County, no less. I happen to know a rather outlandish very fun woman on Twitter from Kitsap County, so the fact that these women were from there seemed even more fitting. And we all remember this, right? So I… -
Book Notes: The Encyclopedia of Herbs
31 Dec 2009 | 12:02 pmEver a fan of reference books I was delighted to see Timber Press had published The Encyclopedia of Herbs, subtitled with the promise to be A Comprehensive Reference to Herbs of Flavor and Fragrance. Well qualified authors Arthur Tucker, professor of botany and Thomas Debaggio, founder of an herb farm and nursery, do not disappoint. It is both interesting and useful that the book focuses on culinary herbs, as this eliminates the sometimes burdensome and overwhelming task of identifying the medicinal values of the thousands of plants we have available to us for healing. What is also most…
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Dig In Dirt Blogs
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Serenity in the Garden
26 Jan 2010 | 9:28 amSerenity in the Garden is fun, informative and full of tidbits of slightly metaphysical musings about creating harmony, simplicity and peace in the landscape. -
Garden Adventures
26 Jan 2010 | 9:24 amWelcome to my garden in sub-tropical zone 9b! I will introduce you to some unfamiliar plants and re-aquaint you with some old favorites. Follow along from planting to harvest! -
Stone Art's Blog
25 Jan 2010 | 4:43 amStone Arts blog follows all kinds of creative and artistic things in the garden as well as providing gardening and garden construction tips and information. -
venitian garden
25 Jan 2010 | 2:41 amhere I show the story of the making of my commuter-garden in Lido of Venice, Italy from its start. Here I keep also the record (and the pictures) of the progress of the planning and the planting. -
The Tamalpais Gardener
24 Jan 2010 | 9:06 amThis is a young gardening blog that chronicles organic gardening in Northern California (Zones 15 & 16). The site is in its second season but shows great pictures and has begun to show data relevant
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Brambleberries in the Rain
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Ever So Busy
14 Jan 2010 | 8:28 pmTime keeps slipping through my fingers these days. I had not wanted it to be a full three weeks before I was able to get around to updating this blog. The holidays seemed to have zipped by and I now find my attention turning more and more to my new baby that is getting closer and closer to joining our family. In just a few more weeks I will get to meet this little one that seems to enjoy nudging me in the ribs! Since all of my handmade gifts have been given I thought I would use this post to show off a few pictures of them. If any of my readers happens to be on Ravelry, you will find the link… -
Two Days and Counting
23 Dec 2009 | 5:38 pmI cannot believe that Christmas is only two days away! In some ways it seems to have crept up on me this year. I have been so busy as this year I vowed to make most of the gifts I give to everyone. I am happy with the results and am about to let out a huge sigh of relief that I have been able to pull of as much as I have! I hope to share some of my gifts here on this blog later once the holiday has come and passed. I’d hate to ruin the surprise for some! For me and my family the holidays are full of traditions and each year we look forward to repeating them. When I was a child my family… -
I’m Still Here
17 Dec 2009 | 3:07 pmTime sure flies and I just can’t believe it has been this long since I have updated my blog. Life has made quite a few twists and turn for me and my family and it became down right impossible for me to stay up to date on the blogging world as the weeks rolled on by. I hate to have let this blog go for so long as it has brought me so much joy. This post is my attempt to gradually get back into the game when it comes to blogging. This time of year finds me incredibly busy getting ready for the holidays and whatnot so I do not foresee myself posting regularly til the new year rolls around.
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NYT > Home & Garden
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Shopping With Granger and Robert Moorhead: Heartwarming
8 Feb 2010 | 4:14 pmThe brothers and owners of the architecture and design firm Moorhead & Moorhead pick out gifts that say ‘be mine’ with simple materials and fresh ideas. -
Habitats: The House of Open Arms
5 Feb 2010 | 12:35 pmFilipp and Raya Katz live in a red brick house in Bath Beach, Brooklyn, that Ms. Katz refers to as “my little palace.” -
The Puppy Diaries: The Tao of Temple
4 Feb 2010 | 11:17 pmAccording to Temple Grandin, the revered expert in animal behavior, it’s fine to treat your dog like a child. -
On the Cheap: A Pesky Bedroom, Tamed by Pattern
3 Feb 2010 | 11:00 pmAfter frustrating attempts at fixing up the bedroom in their Brooklyn apartment, a couple turned the room over to a pair of designers who remade it on a budget of $1,500. -
On Location: The Clockmaker’s Retreat
3 Feb 2010 | 10:30 pmIn his apartment at the edge of Germany’s Black Forest, the artist Stefan Strumbel embraces the street.
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May Dreams Gardens
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Homegrown Vegetables, Fruits, and Herbs: A Book Review
9 Feb 2010 | 3:22 amThe answer to the question is Homegrown Vegetables, Fruits, and Herb by Jim Wilson, photographed by Walter Chandoha (Creative Homeowner, $16.95) The question is what book will I recommend the next time someone tells me they would like to grow their own vegetables. Does everyone remember Jim Wilson from the Victory Garden South at Callaway Gardens in Pine Mountain, Georgia? Sure we do! I loved -
A Vocabulary List For Gardeners
7 Feb 2010 | 8:30 pmOh, the fun of gardening! We learn so much when we start gardening, like the botanical names of plants and some specialized words used to describe various aspects of the horticultural world. Some of the specialized words haven't quite made it to the dictionary yet, so I've listed them here for reference... Blogalong: Noun. A plant you learned about through garden blogging and planted in your -
Super Bowl Sunday and Our Thoughts Turn To Gardening
7 Feb 2010 | 6:43 amIt’s Super Bowl Sunday and our thoughts turn to gardening, as they always do. For those who truly do live in their garden 24 x 7, the Super Bowl is the National Football League’s championship game. Approximately 100 million people, give or take, will be watching it this evening. This year, the two teams playing for the trophy are the Indianapolis Colts and the New Orleans Saints. It goes -
Hortothesis: Seeds and Snow
6 Feb 2010 | 8:26 amThe Institute for Gardenetics Research and Other Works (iGROW)* would like to conduct a study to determine if the quantity of vegetable and flower seeds purchased by gardeners goes up when there is snow on the ground. The hypothesis, or rather hortothesis*, which is what we call a hypothesis related to gardening, is that when their gardens are buried under snow and activities of gardening are -
I've Got Seeds!
4 Feb 2010 | 8:05 pmI’ve got seeds! Take that Mr. Winter! You can huff and puff and blow your snow around. You can be cold and miserable and throw those icy paths before me. Give me your best shot and I’m positive I’ll remain standing because… I’ve got seeds! Like a kid with trading cards, I shuffle the seed packets from one hand to another. I lay them out on the table and look them over. I sort them by type and
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Backyard Gardening Blog
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Wayside Gardens
5 Feb 2010 | 6:56 amPlease bear with me folks, this is a test post for a new feature, still trying to figure it out. Ignore it for now, thanks. Wayside Gardens has a very large selection, with more trees & shrubs than most other online nurseries. The plants they ship are of decent size and prices are competitive but not as cheap as some other places. Wayside Gardens is constantly adding new and or rare plants and so are a good source for finding new introductions. Related posts:New Wayside Gardens Coupon New Wayside Gardens Coupon Bonus Code Wayside Gardens Coupons -
Garden Photo Contest
3 Feb 2010 | 2:04 pmHolland Bulb Farms is having a garden photo contest. And no, not getting paid to tell you this (I wish) just thought I entered so others might want to too. Go and enter your own, or just vote for mine. Please? Here are my entries. They allow you to upload as much as 10 at a time, but when I tried to do 10 it got busted, one file got corrupted, and a bunch didn’t load. Do them one at a time to be safe. No related posts. -
A Dream of Spring
2 Feb 2010 | 10:18 amAll Nature seems at work. Slugs leave their lair – The bees are stirring -birds are on the wing – And Winter slumbering in the open air, Wears on his smiling face a dream of Spring! And I the while, the sole unbusy thing, Nor honey make, nor pair, nor build, nor sing. Yet well I ken the banks where amaranths blow, Have traced the fount whence streams of nectar flow. Bloom, O ye amaranths! bloom for whom ye may, For me ye bloom not! Glide, rich streams, away! With lips unbrightened, wreathless brow, I stroll: And would you learn the spells that drowse my soul? Work without Hope… -
Extend the Harvest: How to Make Jam
27 Jan 2010 | 12:49 pmThis isn’t strictly a gardening post, strictly, but as I look outside and see the cold barren wasteland of Hoth I can’t really write much about gardening, can I? However, extending your harvest is something that is interesting and useful for all people who grow edible plants, which is a whole lot of gardeners, so I’ve decided this is on topic enough for me to post about. I love making jam, I can make really cool flavors that you cannot buy in a store. I can give the really cool flavors away and feel that they’re special gifts because they’re unique and I made… -
How to fix a tree with a split trunk from wind damage
15 Dec 2009 | 7:05 amReaders of this blog will know that my favorite tree is my forest pansy redbud, indeed the related posts you’ll find at the bottom of this missive will point to the other blog posts where I have mentioned it. I love this tree because it has spring interest, in the form of the standard pink redbud blossoms, but it also has a somewhat unique purple colored leaf that creates nice interest in the summer as well. I wanted one of these probably for 2 years before finding and buying one, and then, back in early October, disaster struck! A wind storm heavily, heavily, damaged the tree.
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Garden of Eatin'
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Seed Industry Structure
27 Jan 2010 | 10:39 pmPhilip Howard is an Assistant Professor at Michigan State University. His page at MSU says I teach undergraduate and graduate courses in Community, Food and Agriculture, as well as a graduate course in Research Methods. My research focuses on the ‘food system.’ The food system involves all of the steps required to produce food and get it to our plates–from farming and processing to distribution and consumption. My work is unified by three main questions: * What changes are occurring? * What are the impacts of these changes on communities? * What can communities do to respond… -
No, you aren’t hallucinating…
26 Jan 2010 | 7:33 pm…I’m changing the blog theme. Vote if you like it or not —————————> I still need to add a couple new features and change the header images out with my own photos, but it’s mostly complete! Thanks Steph for reminding me to add a screenshot of the old design for comparison! -
Forbes and Monsanto
26 Jan 2010 | 2:08 pmSpeaking from a financial standpoint, Forbes is probably right to name Monsanto as company of the year (they’re weathering the recession quite well, imagine that), but from a “we don’t want your round up and genetically modified seed” standpoint, I mentally flipped Forbes off this morning when I saw this article at the dentist office. The article opens in a new window. Keep in mind when they talk about the farmers having a choice, they are lying. Just like Walmart runs small businesses out of every town they come to, Monsanto has nearly run small seed companies into…
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Plant Talk
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Eating With the Seasons
9 Feb 2010 | 5:00 amAuthor of The Garden Primer Encourages Growing Food Year-Round Barbara Damrosch, author of the recently revised The Garden Primer, writes a weekly column for The Washington Post and has designed display food gardens at Stone Barns Center in Westchester. She will discuss growing food year-round as part of the From the Ground Up Lecture Series on February 18. The anticipation of flavor is the best appetite stimulant, as all kitchen gardeners know. It’s one thing to look forward to a meal, or a favorite dish. But a favorite crop in the ground is even more tantalizing. The global supermarket… -
Tip of the Week: Guidelines for Tree Planting
8 Feb 2010 | 5:00 amSonia Uyterhoeven is Gardener for Public Education. In last week’s blog post, I discussed the virtues and drawbacks of balled and burlapped (B&B), container grown, and bare-root trees. Before I move on to planting particulars, I’d like to first talk about the roots of trees. The average person on the street would probably describe a tree’s root system as made up of large roots that tunnel deep into the ground. The logic is sound—many trees do have deep vertical tap roots that keep them anchored in the ground and stable. The majority of a tree’s root system, however, spreads… -
Plan Your Weekend: The Birds of Winter
5 Feb 2010 | 5:00 amOwls on Nest Once Again, Waterfowl Add Color to Gray Days Debbie Becker leads a free bird walk at the Garden every Saturday from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. beginning at the Reflecting Pool in the Leon Levy Visitor Center. Photos: Debbie Becker Winter holds its best birding in two areas: owls and ducks. Right now the great horned owls at NYBG are sitting on their nest ready to bring forth a new brood of owlets to delight and amaze us. Anticipated arrival time is the end of February. In the meantime, wander down to the Bronx River and observe the wonderful world of waterfowl on the river. Wood… -
A World of Plants Spotlight: Deserts of the World
4 Feb 2010 | 5:00 amLaura Collier is Marketing Associate at The New York Botanical Garden Deserts cover about a third of the Earth’s surface but are so extreme that just about 5 percent of the world’s population live there. That doesn’t make them devoid of plant life. Quite to the contrary, thousands of plant species have adapted survival techniques, like sun protection and water storage, to be able to live in the desert climate, and you can see some of these in the Deserts of the World Gallery in A World of Plants in the Enid A. Haupt Conservatory. Cacti, the plants we typically think of when talking… -
The Orchid Show Coming Together
3 Feb 2010 | 5:00 amDesigner Visits from Florida to View Progress of Installation Jorge Sánchez (right), designer of The Orchid Show: Cuba in Flower, and John C. Lubischer (left), Senior Associate of the Palm Beach-based landscape architectural firm Sánchez & Maddux, visited the Botanical Garden last week to view the progress of the installation, which includes an allée of palm trees, a sugar mill ruin, and other iconic vignettes of Old Havana and the Cuban countryside—amid fabulous orchids. “All the pieces are fitting into place flawlessly—with grace and good humor,” Jorge said. “What a…
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GardenGateBlog
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Roasted Pumpkin Soup with Chipotle (and a lot of help from @Rick_Bayless)
30 Jan 2010 | 10:08 amI grew some lovely sugar pumpkins last fall and had a few left sitting around the kitchen. Since its almost Valentine's day, I decided it was time to cook them. I took out the seeds and made some tasty roasted pumpkin seeds then I roasted the pumpkinsSo far so good, but then I hit a wall - I couldn't decide on what to do with the soup. All internet searches turned up only so-so sounding pumpkin soup recipes. Then I had an idea. I follow a lot of people on Twitter: friends, colleagues, thoughtful writers, good cooks and a few professional chefs. I remembered the many… -
Roasted & Salted Pumpkin Seeds
29 Jan 2010 | 3:43 pmI had a few sugar pumpkins left from the fall, and decided today was their day for cooking. After cleaning the seeds, I roasted them according to this recipe from Epicurious.com Use the last recipe in the "reviews" section - olive oil and soy sauce - just delicious. The pumpkin seeds are slow roasted - so make them on a day when you have time to hang around the kitchen and stir the pan every 15 minutes. Next up - some pretty tasty pumpkin soup.CynthiaCynthia McKenna is a therapist in private practice in the Texas Hill Country. She specializes in helping women with anxiety… -
Time for Cassoulet
25 Jan 2010 | 7:37 amFirst step: soak the beans. I'm using Flageolet beans from Ranch Gordo.Cynthia McKenna is a psychotherapist in private practice in the Texas Hill Country. Find out more about her work at http://www.cynthiamckennacounseling.com -
Green Chile Stew & a Song
10 Jan 2010 | 5:50 pmIts been cold in Texas, and New Mexican food is always my "go to" for warmth and comfort. Tonight's dinner was some lovely green chile stew -a friend asked about my recipe so here goes:Brown 1 lb bison stew meat in about 2T olive oil - remove from oil when caramelized. You can use pork, which is traditional, or even beef.add 2C chopped onions 2 carrots chopped 2 ribs of celerySaute until translucent (Note: I once had an argument with my Mom about adding carrots to Green Chile Stew. She phoned for our Saturday chat and asked (innocently enough) what I was putting in… -
Wisdom from another kitchen
9 Jan 2010 | 8:31 amBarbara Crafton's eMo made me chuckle. thought you might enjoy it.An Unexpected PleasureCynthia
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Old Country Gardens
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The Exercise of Writing
20 Jan 2010 | 1:37 pmWriting has become like exercise to me. So many times we tell ourselves we should exercise, we need to exercise, we must exercise. Yet each day goes by and we find another reason not to exercise, too busy, too tired, don't feel like getting sweaty, what ever it is, there's a reason not to do it.The funny thing is I exercise every day, it's just I've had the hardest time getting back in the saddle here to write.As motivation I made myself go through some photos taken this past season so I would remember the passion I have while I'm out in the garden. The first one that caught my eye was this… -
December Dreams
2 Dec 2009 | 4:48 amSitting here at my computer, I get a wonderful satisfaction looking at old photos taken on garden tours. At times I shake my head to wake up from dreams of tours yet to come. Many of these places are close enough that a tour would only take half a day. Other places require a bit more planning, some require serious travel.Planting Fields Arboretum is an easy half day tour for me, only 1/2 hour from my house. It is by far the place I've visited most. (Photo credit goes to my daughter Emily who took this shot when she was 12.)Even closer than Planting Fields Arboretum are the trial gardens at… -
Easy Come...Easy Go....
30 Nov 2009 | 9:11 amEasy come, easy go...when the title of this post popped into my head it was strictly plant related. Then, while typing it in I realized that it could be applied to so many things in my life right now.Some plants are easy to find, easy to care for but also, easy to go. These photos were taken in 2006 and some of these plants are no longer in my garden. In the opening shot you see the purple foliage Physocarpus 'Diablo', it is now a monster, much larger than I planned for but such a wonderful shrub that it's still in this spot. To the right is Baptisia 'Screaming Yellow' another favorite that's… -
The Master Gardeners
18 Nov 2009 | 3:04 pmThis morning I drove out to Holtsville to give a lecture to Long Island's Master Gardeners. They are a large, active group of avid gardeners, it was a true pleasure to spend my morning with them.The program they had hired me for was my "Perennials for Long Island Gardens". This program features plants that do well in our area (and in similar zones). I love doing this program but for the first time I can say that I was a bit disappointed in myself.You see, I don't own a digital projector and the Master Gardeners don't have one either so I had to go back to doing an old fashioned slide program. -
Oh Deer!
9 Nov 2009 | 5:48 amWell, my weekend adventure to Pittsburgh Pennsylvania was a success! The 6.5 hour drive there was through some of the most beautiful countryside I've ever seen. There was still plenty of autumn foliage covering the rolling hillsides. Rural scenes filled with wonderful barns, cattle, pastures and wheat colored corn fields.The members of the garden clubs there have to be the most generous, wonderful people anywhere. It's a good thing I drove or I wouldn't have been able to get all my goodies back home. Of all the gifts I was showered with, I had to show you the most adorable trough ever, given…
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bloomingwriter
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You are all my Valentines...following up on last week's discussion
7 Feb 2010 | 3:53 pmAs is very typical, life got extremely busy over the past week or so. Appointments in other areas, car problems, interviews for projects I'm doing, plus this one big project that will have me quite occupied until August, all conspired to keep me from doing a whole lot in the way of followup on the post that has generated a huge amount of discussion and feedback. That post, of course, is about -
Skywatch Friday: The World's Highest Tides...and a little history
4 Feb 2010 | 10:17 pmIn my Wordless Wednesday post, I put up a photo which many of you thought was quite cool, and more than a few of you wondered about. Since it WAS Wordless Wednesday, I didn't offer any explanation other than the title, so I thought I'd explain a bit in this complementary post, just in time for Skywatch Friday.I live on the west coast of Nova Scotia, overlooking the upper Bay of Fundy, home of the -
Wordless Wednesday: "The Perfection of the Morning" Habitant River at the Aboiteaux
2 Feb 2010 | 10:14 pm -
Budding Comments, Blooming Ideas, and those darn embedded comments.
1 Feb 2010 | 6:22 pmThe garden blogging community is made of awesome. I know I've mentioned that before, and I'll mention it again. The generosity of spirit with which so many of you left thoughtful comments, ideas, suggestions to my last post...well, a giant group hug to everyone.Of course, the absolute irony of it all is that this week I'm run off my feet with work commitments, and have little time to write posts -
Encouraging our fellow gardening bloggers: Adopt-A-Blog?
30 Jan 2010 | 3:43 pmStormy days are a great time to sit with a mug of coffee, glower out the window, be grateful to be indoors, and muse about things that puzzle me. I've had something on my mind for a couple of weeks, but it's taken me that long to pull my thoughts together in a way that I hope will encourage and challenge other bloggers in a happy, intriguing way.One of the things I've noticed since getting really
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Zanthan Gardens
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Setsubun, Halfway Through the Season
2 Feb 2010 | 6:04 am2010-02-02. Bluebonnet seedlings. Given all the rain in central Texas since September, the bluebonnet plants are large and plentiful. -
GBBD 201001: Jan 2010
15 Jan 2010 | 6:55 amThis space intentionally left blank to illustrate the bleakness. -
Week 01: 1/1 – 1/7
7 Jan 2010 | 4:43 am2006-01-04. Unidentified paperwhites and spider. These paperwhites are short, but pleasantly sweet-smelling, not like some modern ones. -
The Sensuous Garden
2 Jan 2010 | 5:42 pmBook Review: The Sensuous Garden. Montague Don. 1997 "...this book is not about plants or plans but about gardeners with feelings and sensations." (from the introduction) -
GBBD 200912: Dec 2009
15 Dec 2009 | 7:08 pmUnidentified bearded iris.
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Digging
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Technical difficulties
8 Feb 2010 | 10:21 pmIf you’re wondering what happened to my blog, well, I am too. While trying to upgrade to the latest version of WordPress, I managed to lose some important style settings as well as my header. When my technical guru has some free time, I hope he can help me get Digging back to normal again—by [...] -
Sculpture show enlivens Wildflower Center in winter
7 Feb 2010 | 8:05 amTweeet! Shaking his tail feathers and dancing to welcome spring, Pokey Park’s Midnight Serenade Pose 1 is just one of many nature- and human-themed sculptures on display at the Wildflower Center through March 7. -
Garden structure at the Wildflower Center
6 Feb 2010 | 1:33 pmGarden structure is more visible in winter, when plants are dormant. I always take pictures of intriguing rock work, trellises, and the like, gathering ideas for my own garden or others’. Maybe some of these structures at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center will inspire your garden building as well. Pictured above is a twig tepee [...] -
Agave love at Austin’s Wildflower Center
5 Feb 2010 | 9:41 pmThe rain stopped, so after meeting a client this morning I grabbed my camera and drove to the inspirational native-plant gardens of the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center for a leisurely stroll and photography exercise. I’m still sorting through all my photos, but I had to put up some pics of the beautiful agaves growing there. [...] -
Groundhog Day pick-me-up
2 Feb 2010 | 2:35 pmSix more weeks of winter? Say it ain’t so, Phil! Actually, it isn’t so—not in central Texas anyway. While Old Man Winter has overstayed his welcome this year, freeze-browning many of our plants during his tenure, cold is relative, and Austin winters are just not that bad. But it seems a week since we’ve seen the sun, [...]
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Gardening Tips 'n' Ideas
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The Changing Garden: Practically Speaking
31 Jan 2010 | 2:12 pmWe've now been in this house for almost 7 years and a lot of growing up has happened in that time. The kids are nearing teenager-hood, we're getting grey hairs and the suitability of the garden is changing - at least our needs of it are. This is the service side, or dead-side, of the house. It's where most of our home's practicalities reside or traverse through. If you look carefully you can even see the washing still on the line! While it's served our family well since we first landscaped it, it's also had a few quirks that needed ironing out. Firstly, this part of the paving previously had… -
Growing a Beurre Bosc Pear Tree
26 Jan 2010 | 5:37 pmBeurré Bosc Pears, or Bosc Pears as they're more commonly known, are by far the best eating and most intriguing pear available. Their leathery, mottled skin often turns most people away from trying them - especially kids - but these appealing fruits hold a distinct flavour masked by their blemished packaging. The most popular varieties, Bartletts, Red Bartletts and Anjous, will continue to dominate the pear market as their "normal" shape, size and colouring appeal to the fussy consumer more readily. However, if you've never tried a Bosc pear then you really are settling for second… -
What is the Best Grass for Dogs?
25 Jan 2010 | 3:56 pmThere are two ways to look at this question; firstly from our (the gardener) point of view, and second from the dog's viewpoint. For while we may assume that what works best for us should also work best for our pets, our logic may differ from reality somewhat. So let's start by looking at what is the best grass for dogs - from a dog's opinion. Dogs love grass - almost as much as digging holes in our neatly manicured lawns. Firstly, it's a soft play area. Dogs can run on a turfed surface much more safely, and comfortably, than anything else we have to offer - even sand! Second, they love to… -
Strawberry Hearts for Valentines Day
21 Jan 2010 | 3:31 pmIf you've been reading this blog for a few years you may have remembered a post I wrote on Vegiforms, styling veggies with plastic moulds as they grow. Well...one young Aussie has taken it to the next level and is now producing strawberries shaped as hearts...that will be harvested just in time for Valentine's Day. The 22-year old engineering graduate from Melbourne has teamed up his invention with a Tasmanian strawberry farm and plans to have these out within the next 3 weeks. Could this be the ultimate gift idea for Valentines? However, in the true essence of Valentine's they will be… -
BotanicPhotos.com | Selling your garden photos online
20 Jan 2010 | 3:26 pmKathy Thomas from VADirectory.net, who also blogs about her garden here, sent me an email recently extolling the virtues of this site - BotanicPhotos.com. The site offers garden and botanical photos for sale where members can either offer their own images or purchase and download others. It's a great repository for bloggers, garden websites, authors and publishers wanting to enhance their work and will be used by magazines, greeting card manufacturers and the list goes on. While this is not a new idea, by any stretch of the imagination, it is quite novel in that it only caters for…
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blithewold.org
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Spring around the corner
5 Feb 2010 | 5:42 amAs you all know, this past Tuesday was the Feast of the Presentation of the Prophet Phil. I celebrated and paid homage as usual but I think I might be losing faith in The Groundhog. The sun was shining in Punxutawney, PA and Phil saw his shadow. According to tradition that means we’ll have 6 more [...] -
Scale – on houseplants
2 Feb 2010 | 5:46 amRaise your hand if your houseplants don’t have scale. Anyone, anyone? If they don’t, I’m willing to bet that either Mother Nature loves lucky-you especially (though she may have another plague in store, beware); you have only four houseplants, all begonias; or your plants have been infested with scale insects in the past and you [...] -
What zone are you?
29 Jan 2010 | 7:16 amThere is no way I’m going back outside today. Nope. I’m staying in no matter how many colors there are. They can name themselves today. It’s cold! Maybe our little thaw has made me soft. Or maybe I’m a zone 8. It’s only 14° out there and the wind is gusting to 35mph making it [...] -
Smell the earth day
26 Jan 2010 | 10:39 amThe annual January thaw always fools me – and maybe the wrens too – into thinking that spring must be right around the corner. After yesterday’s warm rain deluge, the snow is a memory, the ground gives and squishes like a soaked sponge and there is so much variety in the shades of green and [...] -
Garden whisperer
20 Jan 2010 | 9:29 amLast night Gail and I made a trek to Boston to hear a lecture given by Dan Pearson (co-sponsored by Arnold Arboretum and Trinity Church). If you don’t already know of Dan Pearson, he is one of the rock stars of the horticultural world – a garden designer from the UK who works around the [...]
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Ellis Hollow
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Like Legos for gardeners
7 Feb 2010 | 6:18 amI got a call out from Susan over at GardenRant to help explain the appeal of Farmville. Here’s the comment I left. (Click on the image at right for a larger view of my ‘farm’.) If the Facebook clutter bothers you, you can block Farmville and other Facebook games. What’s the attraction? I liked playing with Legos as a kid. So for me, Farmville is kind of like online Legos for gardeners. Lord knows the lines in my real garden will never be that straight, nor will the color of my bulbs match the color of my trees. But I can make that happen in Farmville. I also play… -
High Wide and Handsome
1 Feb 2010 | 5:00 pmCongrats to Loudin Wainwright III, extended family and friends for the best Traditional Folk Album Grammy for High Wide and Handsome — The Charlie Poole Project. I spent considerable time on that website over the holidays. (Making of documentary clips here.) In a nutshell, it’s a tribute/documentary to Charlie Poole, the first country music superstar back in the ’20s. He and the North Carolina Ramblers took the train from the mill town of Spray, N.C. to the Big Apple to record songs that laid the foundation for country and similar genres. Loudin tells the story much better… -
Music to pick seeds by
31 Jan 2010 | 5:14 pmLuca Mundaca turned up on the old Pandora while working on my NARGS seed order tonight. -
Portland vertical garden
31 Jan 2010 | 5:04 amI generally like the idea of vertical gardens and urban greening. But this one planned as part of the green renovation of the 18-story federal building in Portland, Ore., profiled in this morning’s NY Times seems like a stretch. -
milly acharya botanical illustrations at Mann Library
21 Jan 2010 | 4:41 pmI’m no art critic. But I am a big sucker for botanical illustration. I had a few minutes to check out the exhibition at the Mann Library Gallery of works by Ithaca artist milly acharya this afternoon. If you’re in the area, go see them. If you’re not, check out her gallery. (Delphine: allez voient) Click on the image at right for a larger view of one of my favorites. Botanical illustration can be dry. But acharya’s are filled with life. Plus, most of them are plants that I grow, as local plants are the focus of her work. Another must-see at Mann: Chad Miller, one of…
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Eden Maker by Shirley Bovshow
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Selecting Wood for Outdoors
Would you believe after 4 years of blogging, I have my first guest blogger? It so happens that I’ve been thinking about writing about outdoor wood selection for some time now and then I met Hazel Jennings, writer for the CedarStore.com. Hazel writes about wood for a living! So Hazel and I agreed to “guest blog” on [...] -
“Go Green Expo” Los Angeles
I know what I’m doing on Saturday, January 23, 2010 and I’m inviting you to come along! I’ll be attending the “Go Green Expo” at the Los Angeles Convention Center along with garden writer Billy Goodnick, (“Cool Green Gardens” at FineGardening.com). Billy always brings out the kid in me, so there may be some antics in store. I’ll make [...] -
Gardenology.org “Plant Wiki”
As seen on the Garden World Report show, “Garden Magazines For Every Climate” I appreciate my gardening books but there is nothing like immediate access to information for plants that can be found online. Have you heard of Gardenology.org? It’s an online plant and gardening encyclopedia modeled after the popular “Wikipedia.” So far, Gardenology.org has 16,711 plant entries and other [...] -
“Garden Magazines”
New Garden World Report show this week! If you buy regional garden magazines you are probably getting useful information for your garden. I want to encourage you to step outside of your comfort zone and consider a regional magazines that doesn’t have your city name on it. Instead, focus on your garden zone and select a magazine that shares [...] -
Double Duty Built in Seating
The beauty of built in seat walls is that they serve a variety of functions.
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Flatbush Gardener
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Asimina triloba, PawPaw
7 Feb 2010 | 1:52 pmUpdate 2010.02.08: More on the Staten Island Pawpaws. Asimina triloba, Common Pawpaw, is a native fruit true in the Annonaceae, the Custard-Apple Family. The Pawpaw fruit can be up to 12cm/5" long, the largest fruit native to the U.S. Its taste is... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
Will the Flatbush Loew's Kings Theatre finally be saved?
2 Feb 2010 | 7:24 pmUpdates, 2010-02-03: Added more links and images. Loew's Kings Theatre, Flatbush Avenue, Flatbush, October 2007 From today's NY Times City Room: A developer has signed an agreement, made a down payment on a $70 million renovation of the Kings and... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
Happy Imbolc (Groundhog Day) 2010
1 Feb 2010 | 8:00 pmUpdate, 2010-02-02: Swing, and a miss. It's overcast this morning. The sun is up, and visible over the rooftops, but no shadows. Spring will arrive on time! (Oh, and my neighbor's Snowdrops are up, if not yet in bloom.) If the National Weather... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
Central Park Rabies Outbreak
30 Jan 2010 | 4:42 pmThis month, 23 raccoons in and around Central Park have tested positive for rabies. In addition, 11 animals tested positive during December 2009, bringing the two-month total to 34. In contrast, from 2003-2008, only one raccoon tested positive in... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
Mulchfest 2010: NYC Recycles Trees
4 Jan 2010 | 5:04 amUpdated 2009-01-05: Added a map of Brooklyn Mulchfest locations. Park Circle Mulchfest 2009 It's tree recycling season in New York City. Residents can have their trees recycled into mulch for the City's parks and gardens: Remove all lights,... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Eco Landscape Care
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Indoor Herbs
6 Feb 2010 | 2:06 pmThe Toughest Herbs: If you have been following along for the last few weeks, perhaps you just cant wait for spring. Many herbs are suitable not only for starting indoors, but for growing indoors. No fancy hydroponics are needed, just a window with fairly good light. The following is a list of herbs that are relatively happy indoors: Basil Oregano Mint Parsley Rosemary Sage Thyme Angelica Chamomile Dill Fennel Lavender Geranium Chives Planting herb pots can be great fun with the kids. Buy some small clay pots, and let them paint them before you plant them. You will want to get some acrylic… -
Herbs for Inside
30 Jan 2010 | 12:30 pmStarting Herbs at Home Last week we looked at window planters for herbs, now let’s talk about getting your herbs started. Yes it’s January, and there is no way we will be starting these outside. Most of us have been led to believe that in order to start herb seeds, you need fancy equipment and lots of time. While it’s true that when growing plants from seed professionally, having lights, multiple flats with cells, special soils and maybe even warming pads work wonders, the truth is that before commercial sprouting of seeds, folks started their own seeds in their homes for hundreds,… -
Pots & Planters for Indoor Herbs
25 Jan 2010 | 7:42 amGrowing Herb Indoors: Pot Selection Picking up where we left of last week, its 54 degrees today as I write this column. However, by the time you read it, it will be closer to 36 and any hopes of gardening this week will be dashed on the jagged rocks of winter despair. A centuries old practice that sees an increasing revival as people epicurean adventures expand, and pocket books remain watched, it growing herbs indoors. Growing herbs indoors will add a little green to your home and fresh herbs that you can harvest in a pinch. These can be grown in any sunny window, but most folks prefer the… -
Dreams of Spring: Vegetable Garden
18 Jan 2010 | 4:57 pmVeggies and Small Spaces It’s particularly warm this week which generally inspires a little spring dreaming. Of course we will be back to ice and snow soon enough, it is only January after all, but in the mean time, let’s roll with it a little. I have wanted a vegetable garden forever. Ai remember one year in Brooklyn, growing tomatoes on my roof. I neglected them somewhat but at the end of the summer I had some amazing tasting tomatoes and of course more than I could eat all at once. Being a single guy, I made tomato sauce and it was incredible! Of course it would have been better if I… -
All Them Holiday Lights!
13 Dec 2009 | 10:29 amSustainable Holidays The Holidays challenge the growing eco-friendly consciousness of our society. It is very hard to drive at night without loving the holiday lights so many homes sport and at the same time, one must wonder how much more carbon is being released into the atmosphere, how much more pollution, and how diminishing resources are effected by our current practices of firing up our communities every holiday season.. This column would never suggest to NOT celebrating. At the same time, in a society that is based primarily on non-replenish able energy sources whose usage degrades the…
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Heather's Garden
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VPH TRIES SOMETHING NEW
4 Feb 2010 | 10:22 pmOkay, be forewarned that this post is not about gardening and if you don't care about the meals that VPH and I have eaten this week, skip this post! A little something to whet your appetite to help you hang in there through the entirely too long text ahead: Money's a little tighter around our house than it has been in the past -- but I know we're not alone. We're not destitute, but we're much more conscience of each dollar we spend. Since SS2 is back at school and SS1 comes by every 7 to 14 days for a meal and football -- don't know what will… -
COURTING REJECTION
3 Feb 2010 | 3:00 amI was pretty excited when I entered the GGW Picture This Photo contest in January thinking I finally had a strong contender with this photo: But a few days before the deadline a photo similar to mine, and quite frankly better, was submitted by Through Laura's Lens. Sure enough her photo won a silver medal award. I don't know much about her because it looks like she might have created the blog just to enter the contest (or at least that was her one and only post to date). But her profile gives the following description: I capture images of exquisite natural… -
SPRING CAN'T COME SOON ENOUGH
30 Jan 2010 | 10:31 amI'm going to tell you a secret...our Christmas tree is still up. My new goal is to take it down before Valentine's Day. Sitting next to it is the amaryllis with one fading bloom and a bunch of dried up shriveled flowers. It's so sad I can't even bring myself to photograph it. If it wasn't below 20 degrees outside I'd go cut some forsythia branches to bring inside and force in the vase that currently holds the amaryllis, but I'm not crazy enough to do that! What I will share with you is a few photos of the amaryllis from bud to… -
MOM'S GARDEN: A VISIT SOUTH
24 Jan 2010 | 9:17 pmIt's cold, wet, and grey in CT, so I'm going on a mental visit to my mom's Florida garden by going through my photos from our November/December visit and some that mom has sent me this week. Mom lives and gardens in the Ft. Myers area and like many of the gated communities in southwestern Florida, hers has strict rules about what you can grow on your own property and where. Not only are they required to meet a standard for the look of the community (you have to grow grass), but there are safety based bans in addition to the aesthetic… -
22 Jan 2010 | 9:41 pm
22 Jan 2010 | 9:41 pmTotally off topic, but God will I miss Conan. I can't wait to see when and how he returns to TV.
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CafeMom Daily Buzz: Home & Garden
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15 Super-Cheap Ways to Say "I Love You"
9 Feb 2010 | 8:30 amSaying "I Love You" in a meaningful way on Valentine's Day (or any other day for that matter) doesn't have to cost much. In some cases, it just takes a little effort, but it doesn't even have to cost a dime.Here are 15 cheap and simple ways to say "I Love You" around your house this Valentine's Day weekend. Flickr Photo credits: 1. chalklove! (by becaboo), 2. Love Hurts (by sunsetchaser) 3. Hearts in Snow (by mrbula), 4. my heart lies frozen in the snow (by knitalatte11), 5. Project 365: Day 25 (by *Lee-Anne*), 6. Snow Heart (by Y3MBailey), 7. little heart (by m a v), 8. 22/365: putting up… -
Which Tax Return Site Did You Use?
9 Feb 2010 | 4:00 amUgh. Taxes. I hate them. And I'm ridiculously bad at anything that has to do with finance. This past weekend I took a stab at doing my tax returns and went the online route this year.But there are so many tax return websites, I wasn't sure which was the best, so I got some advice from CafeMoms on which one to use: MrsGonzo517: I've used TaxFreedom for years and decided to go with TurboTax this year. I liked TurboTax WAY better, it was so simple AND free (for the regular version). The IRS approved it in only a few hours, so we'll be getting our refund this week! army_wife_916: I used H&R… -
Abbey Hendrickson of Aesthetic Outburst: Show and Tell Home Tour
9 Feb 2010 | 4:00 am[slideshow id="141"] -
Giveaway: Palm Pre or Palm Pixi (+22 Ways a Busy Mom Uses Her Smartphone!)
8 Feb 2010 | 8:00 amPhoto from Palm USA I'm a busy WAHM who can't live without her smartphone. I maintain a busy work schedule, a household, a family calendar, and a handful of kid and personal extracurriculars, and I stay organized with the help of my smartphone, which goes with me everywhere. Today, you can enter to win a Palm Pre or Palm Pixi of your own! Keep reading...You won't believe how many times, in our typical daily routine, my smartphone comes in handy and even saves the day! Here's a typical day in my life: 7:00 am: Get youngest son dressed, fed, and off to preschool with husband. Take shower; ready… -
4 Ways to Cuddle in Bed Longer on Valentine's Day Sunday
8 Feb 2010 | 4:00 amValentine's Day falls on a Sunday this year. That means many couples have the perfect excuse to cuddle in bed a little longer on Valentine's Day morning. Occupy the kids: Oh, a little TV's not so bad for them. Pop in a movie for the kids, hand over the remote, and run back to bed to cuddle longer with your darling. Put on clean sheets: Put fresh-smelling sheets on your bed the night of February 13th. When you wake up in the morning, you won't want to get up. Wake up early: Giving up sleep is sort of a sin for parents, I know. However, if your kids are still tiny tots, it might be nice to set…
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Ledge and Gardens
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The 2010 New England Grows Show
8 Feb 2010 | 2:38 pmNo, I am not boycotting February. Sometimes work gets in the way of blogging and sharing the latest gardening items with fellow bloggers is always a pleasure. What is new for 2010? I didn't see too much in evidence at this year's Grows Show in Boston. There are a couple reasons for this. The first is that time is required in the booths in which one is exhibiting so there is limited time to check out other vendors. The other is that the New England Grows Show has become a show devoted to landscapers and arborists rather than garden centers so there is… -
January Freeze
29 Jan 2010 | 2:24 pmWho was it who said 'What a difference a day makes'? We have gone from mild temperatures to the big chill and high winds. The high today was 18 F and the wind is blowing steadily giving the wind chill factor a big nudge. It is not just cold but we had about an inch or two of light, fluffy snow. The climbing hydrangea always enjoys catching the snow although the wind has blown it free already. The world is bright again, if cold. "It is deep January. The sky is hard. The stalks are firmly rooted in ice." - … -
January thaw
27 Jan 2010 | 3:28 pmThe January thaw lasted one full day with torrential rain, wind, and temperatures in the fifties. The garden was snow covered until Monday. Now it has just one patch of snow and the rest has receded. I am not fooled by this or by the recent warm temperatures. The thaw can lull one into thinking that spring is upon us but really, we are just one month into winter and February is the longest month of the year even though it has the shortest of days. The ground thawed just enough in the drive and on the road to create four inch ruts but the lawn areas have… -
Wordless Wednesday - January 20, 2010
20 Jan 2010 | 5:19 pm -
Nepal, Phase III - Adventures in Pokhara
17 Jan 2010 | 3:52 pmOur group of fifteen left the mountains and village of Dhampus to return to Pokhara for a few days of city living and city comforts. Our hotel was new, clean, and comfortable and we were greeted with bowls of floating flowers and more welcome scarfs. Pokhara is a city which has a definite flavor and there is an undercurrent of energy in this city. It may be the collective kinetic energy of those about to depart on their own trekking journey. Pokhara is ringed by the Annapurna mountains with the beautiful Fishtail, Macchapuchhare, still in view here on the right of the above…
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the back quarter acre
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The hyacinth experience, sight and smell
7 Feb 2010 | 8:29 pmAll nine of the hyacinths growing in glass vases have burst into bloom simultaneously. Winter has brought a bumper harvest!This is just one slice of the hyacinth experience. The other part is the heavy scent, so deliciously syrupy that even a smelling-impaired person like myself can discern the perfume. I moved a platter full of the apricot-colored "Gypsy Queen" bulbs down to the dining room sideboard so that I could enjoy the sweet waves as I sat working with my sewing machine at the table nearby. I was floating in a happy little hyacinth bubble, unbothered by the challenges usually posed… -
Potting up, kicking off, and over the top!
18 Jan 2010 | 10:38 amWhen last seen back in October, my old amaryllis bulbs were headed into the refrigerator for three months of dark and chilly hibernation. Yesterday, I pulled them out. Absolutely no signs of rot and decay! Applying that copper fungicide seems to have worked. You might question the logic of storing bags of chemically-treated bulbs next to organic celery and free range eggs--but in an "I hate to cook" way, it definitely makes sense to me! That's what cognitive dissonance is there for, anyways.I planted the bulbs in their pots, watered well, and set them in a south-facing window over a warm… -
Jewel tones
17 Jan 2010 | 3:30 pmAfter almost 12 weeks of cooling in the refrigerator, the hyacinth bulbs are ready for forcing.The three different varieties have slightly different colored bulbs: "L'Innocence" is white, "Gipsy Queen" is tinged with pink, and "Lady Derby" is a deep purple. But right now, the best part is just enjoying the bulbs in their glass forcing vases. And, if they bloom, great! -
Snow roses
6 Dec 2009 | 10:01 pmFinally, winter has arrived. Our first snow storm of the season iced these late-blooming "New Dawn" roses. -
Goalroll, 2010
24 Nov 2009 | 2:00 pmRunning a garden goalroll was tremendously helpful over the past season: it reminded me when and where to transplant summersweet Clethra ainfolia, jogged my memory about adding a few Astilbe x rosea "Peach Blossom," and let me know that I never did get around to organizing the bearded irises. Next year, I promise, next year! Roll on, 2010.When the forsythia bloomsContinue to prune front foundation plantings, especially rhododendron and little-leaf hollies.Prune clethra to remove deadwood and shape.After the forsythia bloomsExpand the new side bed to join more fluidly with the raingarden.May…
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Therapeutic Landscapes Network Blog
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Get Ready for the Great Backyard Bird Count!
8 Feb 2010 | 8:14 amImage courtesy of Henry DomkeIt's almost here, the event you've been waiting for: The Great Backyard Bird CountThis annual four-day event, this year February 12-15, engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of where the birds are across the continent. Anyone can participate, from beginning bird watchers to experts. It takes as little as 15 minutes on one day, or you can count for as long as you like each day of the event. It’s free, fun, and easy.This joint project of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Audubon helps scientists to learn all kinds of… -
Watching the Birds - Connecting with Nature in Winter, Part III
30 Jan 2010 | 12:20 pmPhoto courtesy of Kelly Riccetti and Red and the PeanutContinuing our series on "Surviving the Winter by Staying Connected to Nature," today's post is about enjoying nature from inside, and in particular, feeding and watching the birds. It's true that one of the keys to making it through the winter is getting outside (more on that in the next post). But let's face it: Even if we do venture forth, we're probably not going to be out very long. So what is a "healing garden" in winter? One that we can gaze upon and enjoy from indoors. And what better way to hold our attention than watching the… -
Connecting with Nature in Winter, Part II: Loving the Subtle Beauty
27 Jan 2010 | 7:39 amPhoto courtesy of Kelly Riccitti, from her gorgeous blog Red and the PeanutI've gotten several good comments from blog readers and TLN Facebook fans about what keeps them healthy and sane during the long, dark, cold winter months. Many are about getting outside, even if only briefly, and appreciating what winter has to offer:"I have to go out every day. I feel pent up if I don't. I wrap up and go for a walk.""I think the trick to getting outside is to just get yourself out the door. Even if I don't have the time and energy to be outside for long, it still refreshes my spirit to go out for a… -
Connecting with Nature, Even in the Dead of Winter
24 Jan 2010 | 11:20 amView of the Hudson from Little Stony Point, Cold Spring, NYI've been slacking off on the blog posts recently, which is not like me for January. Usually, this is when I have more time for things like blogging and research. Well, so much for that! Still, it's time to get back to it, and what better way than starting a series of posts that I have to finish? So, this is the first of several posts on "surviving the winter" by staying connected with nature. Now, if you're in Australia or Hawaii or Palm Springs or somewhere else I'd like to be right about now, then never you mind. But for many of us… -
New Research Summary on Outdoor Play Spaces at Childcare Centers
6 Jan 2010 | 11:21 amImage of Buffalo PS90 courtesy Joy KueblerIf you're relatively new to this blog, then you may not yet have heard me rave (in a positive way) about InformeDesign. This is one of the best resources for evidence-based design (EBD), and it's still free, and you can sign up to have new research summaries emailed to you. One summary this week that seems particularly appropriate to the Therapeutic Landscapes Network is of an article by Susan Harrington, "Perspectives from the Ground: Early Childhood Educators' Perceptions of Outdoor Play Spaces at Child Care Centers." Previous studies have indicated…
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A Leafy Indulgence
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Pearly Whites Just In Time
6 Feb 2010 | 4:47 pmTrying to extend the growing season by bringing it indoors, and being inspired by the Indoor Garden(er), a companion to the Paper Whites was planted just before Thanksgiving. Pearly white Hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis) bulbs were set in water, topped with green tumbled ocean glass, chilled, and brought out to be forced into an indoor winter bloom.Now, I have never grown these type of hyacinths in the past because I never liked their form. They are too rigid and artificial looking for my taste - like little plastic toilet brushes. They never seem natural in the landscape. However, they were… -
I Like Lichen
23 Jan 2010 | 1:56 pmI took a trip down to nearby Huntley Meadows Park. This is the largest county park in Fairfax County, with 1,425 acres of "majestic forests, wildflower-speckled meadows and vast wetlands for some of the best wildlife watching in the Washington metropolitan area." I wanted to review the winners of the center's annual Photography Contest, including a photo of Kingbirds entered by a bird-watcher good friend.A walk through the wooded trails and along the wetlands boardwalk yielded a surprising amount of interesting wildlife for a drab Saturday afternoon in winter. A King Rail was spotted munching… -
The Paper White Files
14 Jan 2010 | 7:23 pmIt must be time to talk about the indoor garden plants. My first Paper White Narcissus (Tazetta narcissus) were planted the day after coming home from Thanksgiving vacation last year. The bulbs were snug in their paper bags just behind the milk and soda in the refrigerator for about two weeks prior to planting. They grew slowly at first, and then just after Christmas, the blooms began. They were stunning for my New Years Open House. What timing!Since I don't like the concept of disposable plants, the bulbs were watered throughout the winter, spindly leaves and all, and planted outdoors in the… -
Fall Color For Gray Winter
5 Jan 2010 | 1:48 pmIt's the middle of winter, and there is not much to record in the way of gardening. In looking at some past photos that were not posted to the blog, a few noteworthy autumn items for the journal were found. First, there is the gooseneck loosestrife (lysimachia clethroides). The leaves this year turned a vibrant golden yellow in the fall. The color stayed around for about two weeks before fading into brown. I believe the memory has been fading too, since I do not remember this color on the loosestrife in the past two years of growing it [22.6.2008]. I can think of three reasons:In previous… -
Frank's Yearn to Urn
13 Nov 2009 | 6:07 pmIn September, a four day convention in Chicago yielded a few side trips as a tourist. A visit to Oak Park where Frank Lloyd Wright built his first house and opened his studio on his own was the first stop. A second trip downtown to the Art Institute and nearby Millenium Park was an eye-opener. Although architecture and art were the primary targets for the trips, gardens and greenery were also experienced. Since this is a garden blog, I will concentrate on the botany in my trips.These urns were outside the entrance to the Wright Studio. Potato vines and ornamental grasses (or is it millet)…
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Garden in Bethlehem PA
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Confederate Jasmine
6 Feb 2010 | 5:29 am.Trachelospermum jasminoidesThe Confederate Jasmine lives in a south facing window. (See November 28, 2009 post.)There was some leaf drop after I brought it home. It seems to have recovered very well. I cut off some of the wild growth about two weeks ago. I would have waited to prune until after flowering since the vine blooms on old wood but it sends out shoots rapidly. You can see the return of wild growth at the top of the above picture.And now there are blooms – delicate, white and lightly fragrant. . . -
Hellebores in February
3 Feb 2010 | 4:46 am.This is what my hellebores (Helleborus orientalis) look like at the beginning of February.I probably wouldn’t have paid any attention to them but Susan from Maryland zone 7b asked fellow members of Doug Green’s Online Gardening Club, Perennial Flower Group, to share their experiences with hellebores.The conversation was joined by Yvonne in Illinois (zone 5), Linda in Southwest Kentucky (zone 6) and Janet. Doug Green (who is always hovering in the background to keep everyone out of trouble) posted a link to his “gardening tips for perennials”. The gardening club is a fun way to… -
Variegated Ivy and Fern
30 Jan 2010 | 3:26 am.This was the scene from the window the other morning.So, I continued to tend to the houseplants. . .The fern got a shower.The variegated ivy got a trim. (It’s friend looks a little aslant.) I watched Mr. Green Thumb e-How video about variegated ivy. (Stan DeFreitas, also known as Mr. Green Thumb, has experience as an urban horticulturist working for the Pinellas County Extension Service and has taught horticulture at the St. Petersburg College.)I’ve got to get out more.. -
Root Pruning
27 Jan 2010 | 3:57 am.I have had the red Christmas cactus for more years than I care to remember. I don’t remember how many new plants have been started from the original plant my aunt gave me when I was 16.It’s been a long time since repotting and the plant looked tired. So I decided to do a root pruning and repot. I took 2 cuttings and put them in water to root. If I kill the plant with an inept root prune, I should have new plants to start – a little insurance so to speak.I watered the plant thoroughly. I used a knife along the edges of the pot to loosen it. The root ball didn’t look too dense. I cut… -
Philodendron or Pothos
23 Jan 2010 | 4:50 am.Pothos is the one with variegated leaves. But no one I know calls it Pothos. And the care is the same no matter what you call them.Philodendrons and pothos are great houseplants. They tolerate low light, uneven watering and neglect. I have a great example of a neglected and out-of-control Pothos.I picked off the yellow and dead leaves and untangled the stems. When I stretched it out, it reached about 8 feet long.I took a cutting from one of the tips, removed the lower leaves and put it in a vase to root. I’ve done it before and the cuttings rooted easily from the node or base.I also put a…
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Bumblebee Blog
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The Snow Won’t Get Me Down, Oh No…The Snow Can’t Get Me Down
7 Feb 2010 | 7:32 amThere must be about two feet of snow on the ground. I just trudged outside to check on the chickens. (They’re royally p*@@ed, by the way.) I also broadcast another 15 or so pounds of bird seed onto the snow in the back yard. Can your ankles get frostbite in ten minutes? I’m back inside and [...] -
They’re Calling it the Storm of the Century
6 Feb 2010 | 10:26 amI’m not even sure how much snow we have, but we have a lot of snow. So far the power is on. But I don’t think the 100 lbs. of birdseed I bought in preparation for the snow is going to hold out long. The birds are arriving in droves. See for yourself. -
I Already Have Snow, Thank You
4 Feb 2010 | 1:20 pmThe weather guessers tell us that there’s yet another snowstorm headed our way. We’re preparing for 12 to 18 more inches of snow on top of what we already have still sitting around. Oh joy. Snow is pretty. But it’s darned inconvenient. Even after the roads are plowed we are still stuck way back here until [...] -
Grocery Gardening is Here!
3 Feb 2010 | 12:52 pmLook what I did, Mom! Seriously, my author copies of Grocery Gardening finally arrived. I also spied copies on the shelf at the Barnes & Noble in Annapolis. I hear they are on the shelves at other booksellers as well as the big box hardware stores. I have already shipped off copies to my son in college, [...] -
Sidebar Note 02/02/2010
2 Feb 2010 | 5:12 amAmong other things, I’m working on my presentation about “The Artful Vegetable Garden” for the Davidson Horticultural Symposium. Are you in the NC area and attending? Drop me a line! Happy Groundhog Day! Robin
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Calendula & Concrete
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Food Garden Planting Schedule
7 Feb 2010 | 2:49 pmHousebound after a 2 foot snowfall, I took some time today to make a spring planting schedule. It took a literal "snowed in" status to get me to sit down and finally do this. Each year, for the last six years, I've consulted books and websites to determine planting dates for specific food crops. I typically jotted down a smattering of "to-dos" on my wall calendar, but I never wrote up a complete schedule specifically for all my desired crops and their planting dates for an entire season. It takes a blizzard to get me this organized.Here is my food garden planting schedule for spring. It is… -
Snow days are for garden planning
30 Jan 2010 | 11:36 amIt's a perfect January day today -- snowy and cold! I am sitting inside by the window, thoroughly entertained by the 10 cardinals and other various birds clamoring for the feeders out back.With a view of the garden beds nestled in snow, I'm at the computer punching in my order for this year's new selection of seeds. My list includes:- Fava beans- 'Blue Lake' bush beans- 'Detroit Dark Red' beets- 'Vates' kale- Mizuna- Chervil- Leeks- 'Jericho' lettuce- 'Oakleaf' lettuce- Parsnips- 'Wando' peas- Salsify- Brussels sprouts- 'White Icicle' radishes- Sweet banana peppersA quick check of my seed… -
6 Dec 2009 | 12:35 pm
6 Dec 2009 | 12:35 pmHere's a look at what I picked from the garden on Thanksgiving day: beets, kale, and leeks. We used the beets and leeks in our Thanksgiving meal and the kale for another dish.I have a good crop of leeks this year--probably the best I've ever grown. Beets, however, seem to be in constant shortage. I never seem to plant enough to suit my appetite for them. Next year, I'll definitely plant more. And more kale, too.Here's how the garden looks today. We had our first snow yesterday. Last weekend I mulched around the artichoke plants and covered the asparagus and garlic beds with leaves raked from… -
Tomatoes for dinner
11 Aug 2009 | 3:33 pmHere's a look at the latest treats from our garden. The first peppers are coming in now, and we've been trying to keep up with a bumper crop of heirloom tomatoes. I know, what a problem to have, right?We planted four varieties of tomatoes this year: 'Cherokee Purple,' 'Green Zebra,' 'San Marzano,' and 'Gold Medal.' Favorites-wise, I'd rank them in that order, with the 'Cherokees' reigning supreme.We've been knocking out a lot of these in gazpacho -- a perfect, refreshing meal for hot summer days. We've also had various tomato salads. And here's a tomato stack filled with a tangy chive goat… -
Eggplants coming along
31 Jul 2009 | 3:28 pmI have at least 5 eggplants that are plumping up now. So far, this is my best success with eggplant -- ever. The variety I'm trying out is 'Black Beauty,' which can grow fruits 8-10 inches long, 1-3 pounds each. The one in the foreground of the photo is not quite tennis-ball size yet, so we still have a way to go before picking. Not a problem, since we are presently trying to keep up with an abundance of ripening tomatoes!
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Future House Farm
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Good times and good food
30 Jan 2010 | 7:27 pmKate and Tom invited us over for dinner tonight—we had pasta carbonara, salad, and fruit crisp. I'm in a bit of a food cloud right now so I'm having difficulties crafting thoughts into words; all I can say is that it was absolutely amazing and I am pretty pissed that I forgot my camera. One thing Kate said that rang true was that good food is easy when you have good ingredients (or something like that). Thanks guys. -
The Anteaters
23 Jan 2010 | 5:12 pmI was clicking through YouTube the other day and found this little clip. I had never heard of The Anteaters or The Penguin Cafe Orchestra, but I'm a big fan now. The tune is a happy one and it makes me want to get out to the garden. Enjoy. -
Seed Share
17 Jan 2010 | 2:13 pmThis weekend Kate and Tom from Living the Frugal Life invited us to a seed share at Nitya and Jeff's Woodsong Hollow Farm. It was a wonderful afternoon that began with a very quaint farmer's market, which was followed by an amazing potluck, and for the remainder of the afternoon we talked about, shared, and ordered seeds.There really cannot be enough said about the richness and kindness of character of those in the gardening community.Our food contribution was granola. We got the recipe from Meg's mom—Thanks Laurel.Laurel's GranolaPreheat oven to 350°FIn a large bowl, toss together:6 cups… -
Seed Room Update
10 Jan 2010 | 7:35 amWell, we got a coat of waterproofing on the walls of our seed room. With the cold temps it will take a little longer than expected to dry. Many of your comments from the last seed room post suggested that we also use it as a root cellar and beer and wine cooler. You know, we couldn't agree more.On a side note: The color of the room is probably closer to the top photo. You wouldn't believe how hard it is to take a photo of a poorly lit all white room. -
Mighty Meat Loaf
9 Jan 2010 | 7:42 pmI used to make this meat loaf for my roommates in college. I don't know how the recipe came into being—I think I just used all the sensible ingredients available at the time. The outcome was good enough that I've been duplicating it since and my old roommates' wives tell me they can't make their own without hearing about mine.The following recipe makes four two-pound loaves.Ground Beef - 3 poundsSweet Sausage (not in casing) - 1 poundGround Lamb (the original had deer) - 1 poundWhite Onion Diced - 3 mediumCelery Diced - 3 stalks (pick some leafy ones)Garlic Rough Chopped - 1 bulbBread - 3…
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GardenDesignOnline
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Books: Sustainable Design
8 Feb 2010 | 8:56 amSustainability is now all the rage, and a lot of people think it means some very simple things: planting more natives, taking care of water runoff, eliminating lawns and avoiding all use of chemicals in the garden. In their just-out book Sustainable Site Design: Criteria, Process, and Case Studies for... -
Winter to Spring
6 Feb 2010 | 6:34 amThere's more than a foot of snow on the ground at my house ... still falling ... and 20 to 30 inches predicted before it's over. And although spring is still six official weeks away, it IS on the way. This winter blooming jasmine has already started emerging (just barely)... -
Veg Gardens: My Rant Against Them
3 Feb 2010 | 7:45 amLike so many other gardeners, I got into the design field many years ago by way of my own real veg garden. Returning to DC from four years in London and two in NYC, we bought a house with a yard big enough to grow vegetables. I double dug the... -
Garden Books 2010: Veggies Only
1 Feb 2010 | 8:16 amBlame the economy or blame a new generation of gardeners who are into the "green" movement, but publishers of garden books are going whole hog in one direction: books on vegetable gardening. Books on design and books on blooms are simply not in fashion this year. The latest survey from... -
Happenings Feb 2010
29 Jan 2010 | 4:12 amSELECTED GARDEN EVENTS AROUND THE COUNTRY Thru March 28, Orchid Show, St. Louis, MO Missouri Botanical Garden, 314-577-5100 Thru March 31, Orchid Extravaganza, Kennett Square, PA Longwood Gardens, Show, Sale, Lectures & More 610-388-1000 Feb 3-7 Northwest Flower & Garden Show, Seattle, WA WA Convention Center, 253-756-2121 Feb 4-6, Southeastern...
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Life In Sugar Hollow
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Higgledy Piggledy
25 Jan 2010 | 8:22 amThe days are getting longer! Seed catalogs have been arriving! And, I'm trying to think ahead about the wonders that the garden will offer up after all of this rain and snow! The weather has, indeed, been chasing us indoors an awful lot lately. Anything I can do in front of the woodstove is game.I've been knitting slouchy hats for Willa's teachers and am starting the fourth one this week. Slouchy hats were their top request and this pattern has been a humongous hit.I have forever loved nesting dolls and found this pattern (photo above) from Sublime Stitching. I'm embroidering a few for… -
The Cold Frame Summit Talks :: Part 1
19 Jan 2010 | 9:05 amBeing married to a skilled and very talented carpenter makes the most beautiful designs, materials and craftsmanship available to you at all times. Attention to exquisite details and a sense of things lasting forever and forever are a big part of how his mind works.So when I brought up the fact that I had in mind a very basic design for a cold frame, that I would pull together from materials sitting around our property, I knew I had a little battle ahead of me. You see, gardening (for me) is about testing or switching out variables from season to season and playing around with the different… -
Helping Haiti
19 Jan 2010 | 5:04 amThe New York Times is recommending Charity Navigator's list on the most reputable charities supporting relief efforts in Haiti. Please visit their site when you have a moment. -
Resolutions In The Garden
9 Jan 2010 | 5:22 pmCosmos will be part of Willa's Butterfly Garden and our honeybee sanctuary.Happy New Year to all! What time is it? It's make big plans and promises time. Talking the talk without yet needing to lift a finger. Some I'll keep, some I'll drop. But for now, mid-January, the big plan making is all I got. Without further ado - The Garden Resolutions for 2010.1. Getting back to vegetable gardening. There will be help in that garden this year. Since our house and other huge projects are finishing up, Corey is setting his sights on helping out - recognizing the importance of Willa witnessing and being… -
Blustery
20 Dec 2009 | 7:53 pmTwenty two inches of snow is a lot of snow for our parts.But we are more than making do . . . lots of soup making, baking, knitting and radio listening alongside typical weekend chores. Nothing like an act of nature to make you shift gears and get the right home-front pace going - without the pull of the outside world and its distractions.Happy snow days and happy solstice!
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Lois de Vries' Garden Views
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The Genius of Place
6 Feb 2010 | 8:36 amEighteenth-century gardener, poet, and acerbic critic Alexander Pope’s phrase “the genius of the place” is often quoted by garden writers, landscape architects, and environmental advocates to urge us to respect what Nature herself provides.But, it’s important to understand Pope’s phrase in context: The context of the times, the context of Pope’s rebellion against the excesses of the wealthy, -
Gardener's Psychiatric Hotline
23 Jan 2010 | 8:48 amGuest Blog The Gardener’s Psychiatric Hotline has been a perennial favorite for garden humor, which those of us in the Northeast could use a little of right now. Thanks to Ron Vanderhoff of Roger’s Gardens for his version: “Many who read this column will soon retreat to their gardens for long periods of time. Once there, may will find peace, harmony, and beauty. But a few, some of whom I’ve -
Gardeners, Landscape, & Nursery Professionals: Land Ethics Symposium Set for Feb. 18, 2010
8 Jan 2010 | 12:39 pmGardeners and garden-related professionals, environmental consultants, and government officials won’t want to miss the 10th Annual Land Ethics Symposium, sponsored by Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve (New Hope, PA). This year, the symposium focuses on ways to create economical and ecologically balanced landscapes using native plants and restoration techniques.In years past, the Land Ethics -
Gardening Resolutions for 2010
26 Dec 2009 | 5:57 amWe spent part of Christmas Day talking about our plans for 2010, the majority of which have to do with gardening. First on the list is building my gardener-coaching practice, something new that I’ll be debuting this spring, provided I can stay on schedule (see http://cultivatingtheinnergardener.blogspot.com ). There’s still that 75-foot cherry tree trunk in the east garden that needs to be -
Frost on the Pumpkin
18 Dec 2009 | 9:57 amHave you ever walked away from the perfect garden picture without realizing it? I almost did last weekend when we had air temperatures above 32°F and ground temperatures below 32°F. As mist fell, it condensed onto the pumpkins that I hadn’t gotten around to removing from the porch steps. Initially, there was just a faint film. But as the sun set and temperatures continued to drop, sparkling
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Sustainable and Urban Gardening
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Sustainable and Urban Gardening News, February 2010
8 Feb 2010 | 5:32 amBlog edition. The whole newsletter is right here. Sustainable Gardening on the Web Outstanding original reporting on school food by Slow Cook Ed Bruske in his Tales from a DC Kitchen. That led to this interview on the Kojo Show. Urban gardeners – all gardeners – need to know about compost, right? And Dr. Frank Gouin is The Man on the subject. Here's what he recently said about it. After Atlantic Magazine published an anti-school-garden screed, urban gardeners lined up to condemn it. Here's Ed Bruske's response, and one from Michele Owens on… -
Magnolia and Holly – Innocent Victims of Freak Snowstorm
7 Feb 2010 | 10:00 amI trust these photos of before and after the Mid-Atlantic's "Snowmagedden" will tug at the hearts of gardeners in all climates and maybe provide a teachable moment for homeowners in wintery places. In the "before" shot you see the now-ruined 'Little Gem' magnolia on the left and one of the now-ruined Foster hollies on the right. (In between are some acuba, damage unknown but they'll bounce back from anything.) They're all technically my neighbors' but visually they're very much in my garden. And another heavy snowfall… -
A front-yard veg-ornamental garden that neighbors actually like
4 Feb 2010 | 8:13 amSimone Fary lives just 3 blocks from the newly-bustling downtown Silver Spring, Maryland, with its shops, night life and subway station to greater DC. So, a great location. Plus plenty of sun, y'all! But like every other front yard in the neighborhood, hers was devoted to the care and feeding of turfgrass and some foundation shrubs. That bit of conformity ended when Simone got the urge to grow some food, dammit, but to grow it in a gorgeous, gardeny way. No need to go whole-farm and get the neighbors all nervous about property values. No need to… -
Something I wouldn’t buy today? This teak bench
28 Jan 2010 | 6:57 pmNext up in our on-going exploration of garden furniture – what's long-lasting and affordable – I have to show you my teak bench. Sure it's more expensive - I paid $320 for it about 20 years ago, fully assembled and retail – but then I did absolutely nothing to it and it still looks perfect to this day! Up close you'd see that it's smooth, with no splinters – truly amazing. It’ll certainly outlast me. Ah, but is teak sustainably harvested? Planet Green sums it up nicely for us – " Two out of the three… -
The most gorgeous mixed-species “lawn” I’ve ever seen
25 Jan 2010 | 5:12 pmGarden writer Julie Shapiro, whose 1/4-acre garden is in Hull, MA along the Boston Harbor, sent me these photos of her "eco-lawn", and the story behind it. That interesting tale includes far more than lawn, though. Her 1885 house has a colorful history that includes lobster boats being stored alongside it, so Julie's first job on the site was to get rid of some asphalt and lots of soil filled with metal lobster trap shards, glass and other sharp dangerous things. But because her land is in a A1 flood plain – meaning an area of special flood hazard – "care…
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Transatlantic Plantsman
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Misleading magnolia
4 Feb 2010 | 4:47 amMagnolia sieboldii is a lovely shrub, or even a small tree. But don’t expect it ever to look like this – unless you cut the branches off your flowering tree and stuff them into a pot. As seen here. This is not a patio plant, it can be a 30ft+/10m+ tree!What’s more, although it’s one of the magnolias which flowers when quite young – usually when about five or six years old – it never ever flowers at the size seen in this picture from Britain’s Daily Telegraph’s online garden shop.Neverthless… Magnolia sieboldii is one of the finest of all magnolias, and fragrant too. Just be… -
Hybrid hellebore looking great
3 Feb 2010 | 4:54 amJust popped in to the RHS garden at Wisley in Surrey yesterday afternoon – in the rain – and the first plant to greet me inside the gate is the hybrid hellebore I’ve been bashing on about for the last eighteen months or so. A big drift of it… Looking splendid. Helleborus Walberton’s Rosemary (‘Walhero’) – well, I’m not going to go into all the detail again. Suffice it to say that it’s the first widely available hybrid between the Christmas rose, H. niger, and the Lenten Rose, H. x hybridus. And here at Wisley today, in the rain, after the coldest British winter in… -
Stuck in British traffic
2 Feb 2010 | 6:22 amSometimes, being stuck in the traffic provides an opportunity. Just back in Britain for a visit, I was stuck on the infamous M25 (that’s London's vast orbital motorway). So I was able to snap these three sources of alternative energy in one picture as I waited for the traffic to move. (Click the image to to enlarge it.)There’s the wind turbine, of course. And there’s the bank of solar panels. And there’s the field of Miscanthus being grown as a biomass crop. Good to see someone taking it all so seriously. -
Jackanapes polyanthus - the Sylvan Series
29 Jan 2010 | 3:00 amJackanapes is an old English word meaning a saucy or mischievous person. And I suppose the streaks running through the enlarged calyx of the Jackanapes polyanthus do give the flowers an impudent air.This is one of the less common of what are often referred to as “anomalous” primroses and polyanthus, the oddities that intrigue so many people more than the familiar kinds. In the Jackanapes the green calyx of each flower is striped through with a flash of color which is the same as that of the petals - click to enlarge the disassembled flower below.These have always been rare, but now… -
Hose-in-Hose primulas – the You and Me Series
26 Jan 2010 | 3:00 amIn my last post I set the scene for the exciting recent developments in unusual primulas. Three much sought after types are now becoming available to everyone. And the first to be totally revitalized were the Hose-in-Hose types.In the Hose-in-Hose form the calyx (the leafy part behind the flower) is transformed into the petals of another flower - so it looks as if one flower is nestling inside another. The name derives from the way fashionable Elizabethan gentlemen wore their long stockings (their “hose”) with one inside the other and with the top of the outer one turned down. Fascinating…
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WashingtonGardener
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Think Spring! 8 reasons to join us for Philly Flower Show Trip
7 Feb 2010 | 9:42 amWashington Gardener Magazine has partnered again with Cheval Force Opp’s Garden Tours company to take local DC gardeners up to the Philadelphia Flower Show on Wednesday, March 3, 2010. What sets this tour apart from all the others? 8 Great Reasons!1. We feed you! That's right, lunch is included on the way up as well as a hardy snack on the way back 2. We entertain you! We'll have garden-related DVDs to view, flower trivia contests, prizes for bests (dressed, on time, etc.), and just plain silly games for your day off work. 3. We'll hold a lively show preview talk! Cheval and I will be at… -
Drumroll please... And the Photo Contest Winners are...
1 Feb 2010 | 4:16 pmCORRECTION: Richard Paul Weiblinger's name is spelled incorrectly. He placed three times in the Garden Creatures category. Please note the correct spelling. -
Thanks for the Bumps
31 Jan 2010 | 1:44 amWe've gotten some really nice press and coverage lately. Thought I'd collect a few links here and share. I shall refer back to this post on my darker, "why am I doing this again and working 100+ hours a week" days.~ WAMU 88.5 FM American University RadioMetro Connection Friday January 29, 2010. Gardening with Kathy Jentz: The 2010 Seed Exchange. Listen to me online anytime (also linked in previous post)~ Mike McGrath has been Garden Editor for WTOP radio talked on-air a week or so back about "Seed Starting and Grubs" including: "You'll have the chance to do it all and more when… -
Gardening With Kathy Jentz: The 2010 Seed Exchange
29 Jan 2010 | 1:48 pmGardening With Kathy Jentz: The 2010 Seed ExchangePosted using ShareThis -
How to Prep for the Seed Exchange
28 Jan 2010 | 6:53 amAs of last night's count, I have 30 spaces left for the Brookside Gardens location and 40 spaces left for the Green Spring Gardens location of our annual Washington Gardener Seed Exchange this Saturday, 1/30. To guarantee a spot at either event, you can print out and overnight /deliver your registration to us by Friday evening. Or take a chance and come to either location on Saturday at 12noon to register on-site. It will be first-come, first-serve. Once we are full, that is it. You can speed things up by printing out the registration form from here and bringing it…
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A Tidewater Gardener
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Wild Things
4 Feb 2010 | 1:02 pmAfter my trip to the Kaplan Orchid Conservatory, I walked to the nearby Baron and Ellin Gordon Art Galleries, which is also part of Old Dominion University. The gallery has room for several exhibits, including the permanent home for the Gordon's collection of what was once referred to as primitive or outsider art, but is now called self-taught art. My taste is all over the map, but this is one genre I have always enjoyed. These artists are compelled to create because there is something in their heads that needs to come out. No one has taught them the "right" way to paint, what a "proper"… -
... and the Winner Is
1 Feb 2010 | 3:14 amThanks to all of you who left a comment on my anniversary post. I had over 30 entries, most from the blog, but also a few who contacted me via email. Last night (during a commercial of the Matrix Marathon on AMC) my son randomly pulled Pam's name of Digging in Austin TX, out of the hat. I am sorry I couldn't give each of you something, other than a big "Thank You". -
Snowpocalypse 2010
30 Jan 2010 | 11:05 amIt is not unheard of for it to snow here in Hampton Roads, but it is unusual for us to get more than the occasional dusting. It started snowing around 2 or 3 this morning and is not predicted to stop until sometime overnight. There is at least 8" or more on the ground as I write this, and the weather people are predicting around a foot when it is all over with. According to them, this is a "major snow event". Their prognostications tend to whip the populace into a frenzy, compelling them to drive at great haste, without regard for any other vehicles or pedestrians - to the grocers, filling… -
This Week In Horticulture
28 Jan 2010 | 6:35 pmLike I do most years at this time, I spent the better part of the week at the Mid Atlantic Horticulture Short Course. I help out a little bit, attend a few classes, catch up with previous acquaintances as well as make new contacts. You may be able to imagine what it is like to be among hundreds of landscapers, growers, turf people, designers, arborists, retailers, academics, master gardeners, specialists, extension agents, etc... When you get this many plant people together, talking about what they love, the halls are not quiet.The classes I took varied, and several of them I entered with low… -
Kaplan Orchid Conservatory
23 Jan 2010 | 7:20 amAfter meaning to do so for sometime, I finally got around to visiting the Phyllis and Arthur Kaplan Orchid Conservatory on Friday. I have known about this facility since before it opened last year, but have not made the time to visit. Prompted by a recent article in the Daily Press and by a post from new found blogger, GCV Horticulture - I decided to visit. I really have had no excuse as the Conservatory is within walking distance of the house, plus Friday was such a grim, gray day, perfect for a trip to the tropics.The late Dr. Kaplan happened to be the doctor of choice for my wife's family…
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Blue Ridge blog
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Evolving...
6 Feb 2010 | 1:13 pmOur current snow is not photogenic through the microscope, but Annie and I certainly have enjoyed our many winter walks this weekend. Annie turned 2 years old last month and for the first time, I'm sensing her evolution from puppy to dog. Oh how she still insists on pooping right beside my husband's truck and she remains curious and jumpy about everything single thing I have in my hands. And, she remains a pickpocket and thief. But today while I was… -
Melting Snowflake
4 Feb 2010 | 4:28 pmHere I am. I am not hiding. It's just that I'm rockin' my newly found snowflake geekiness. I've become obsessed with capturing snowflakes with my camera. When I haven't been online studying the intricacies of microphotography and optical physics, I've been scraping together pieces of old microscopes and parts of ancient camera paraphernelia with hopes of successfully capturing ice crystals on my sensor. What started on a whimsy quickly turned into a quest which, if I am not successful soon, will have me dramatically throwing myself from a top a mountain… -
Ode to many joys!
17 Jan 2010 | 5:06 pmI must admit that I almost quit my blog several times lately. I've struggled with finding words, stories, and images. I've lost my blog bearings, if you will...I've felt boring or perhaps that everything has already been photographed or written before, so why bother..Bad attitude.But then I remembered that for the past 5 years, this space has been my much needed refuge as well as a memory sanctuary. Oh, I should have counted the number of times I've combed my archives in search of a certain photo only to read the words beneath which cleared out the cobwebs in my mind, only… -
The River Road
12 Jan 2010 | 6:49 pm -
She loves the snow...
5 Jan 2010 | 6:38 pm
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clay and limestone
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I Love Color
8 Feb 2010 | 2:00 amIf you looked at my wardrobe you might think otherwise~ It's a study in black and white with occasional pops of red. So let's head straight into the den~~ There's color out there! Really. We have colorful, non-traditional pieces throughout our house. They're entertaining and often personally meaningful. Like this piece by artist Nancy S Drew whose work made us laugh till our sides hurt because it echoed a "let's see and do everything" vacation that Mr I scheduled for us many years ago! Or, this Kent Ambler woodcut we saw at a Charleston, SC art festival two summers ago and couldn't resist. -
When Trouble Comes Knocking On The Door!
5 Feb 2010 | 5:59 am"Hello!I know you're in there!"You can attempt to ignore it, but, sometimes it's quite insistent!"Not answering!Who does she think she's fooling!"...and just when you resolve"You cannot ignore me."that you can let it go "I am big, noisy and clever. Wild feed for the smaller birds is just as tasty!"It discovers a way to hang on!GailWords and photos by Clay and Limestone author. All other company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks/copyrights/patents owned by those respective companies or persons. Subscribe in a reader -
Don't You Wish!
3 Feb 2010 | 4:30 amFebruary 2009~~yes, February!What are you wishing for?gail Subscribe in a reader -
Musing On Our First Snowfall
1 Feb 2010 | 3:00 amWe've had our first snowfall and it's Muse Day! I humbly submit this poem by Elinor Wylie (1885-1928) and the accompanying photos in celebration to Nancy at Soliloquy hostess of The First Snowfall Project and to CarolynGail/Sweet Home and Garden Chicago hostess of Muse Day.Thank you both.Velvet Shoes Let us walk in the white snowIn a soundless space;With footsteps quiet and slow,At a tranquil pace,Under veils of white lace. I shall go shod in silk,And you in wool,White as white cow’s milk,More beautifulThan the breast of a gull. We shall walk through the still townIn a windless peace;We… -
Wild Flower Wednesday~Then and Now
27 Jan 2010 | 3:00 amHypericum frondosum thenHypericum frondosum todayPractically Perfect Pink Phlox Pilosa thenPhlox Pilosa todayGaura lindheimeri 'Passionate Rainbow' thenGaura lindheimeri 'Passionate Rainbow' todayChasmanthium latifolium thenChasmanthium latifolium todayRosa carolina todayThis will be her first year in the gardenBut if you'd like to see how lovely she looks in the summerplease visit Sweetbay ~~She has a lovely header photo of Rosa carolinaand this is a plant from her garden!She survived and thrived!I am so glad you stopped by today. Wildflowers are among my favorite plants. Wildflower…
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Dirt Therapy
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Unexpected snow - an early birthday present for Michael
8 Feb 2010 | 10:47 amSnow is an event that is hard to predict here in north Alabama. When the weather people forecast it, nine times out of ten it doesn't happen. When they don't mention it and you are unprepared for it, watch out. This morning was a perfect example. The only snow in the forecast is for Friday. No mention whatsoever for a possibility today. This morning it started sleeting and snowing before I headed to work. I skidded several times driving to work, a scary experience. It was too late for the University to close the school so they just sent out a caution to be careful.The snow came down in… -
Tuna croquettes
30 Jan 2010 | 8:28 amOne of my favorite meals that my mother makes is salmon patties (I don't think the term "croquette" was even known in my household), creamed potatoes, biscuits and gravy. A few years ago, she showed me how she made them, I wrote the recipe down, gave it to Michael, he made them for me one time and asked me to never request it again. He said they were gross to make (she uses the salmon that comes in the can with the bones and they have to be carefully removed) plus he has a major aversion to anything that lives in the water. I think at some point in his childhood, his family was tortured with… -
The Iceman Cometh
29 Jan 2010 | 5:43 pmThe big storm that has been in the news just barely grazed us. We got a steady sleet and just a little snow starting this morning around 9am. For a while, things looked ominous and the university closed at noon. Temperatures have crept up a little and it is now raining. If the temperatures do slip below freezing, we could be in trouble. Fortunately, that is not forecast to happen.Pansies popping through the sleetThe cast iron plants on the patio still look goodThe Whale's Tongue agave is a plant that I wanted after seeing it on Pam Pennick's Digging blog. I've read that it is super hardy. It… -
Planting tulips
18 Jan 2010 | 1:07 pmI had the day off for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and it turned out to be really nice. We had a wet weekend, 2 1/2 inches according to the rain gauge, so everything was still very damp. The sun was out today and temperatures were in the mid 50s.Tulips are best planted earlier than this (November or December are the best months) but I never got around to it and it was too cold to get out during the winter break. So, better late than never. I think they will probably be okay. Actually, it has been years since I've planted tulips. I planted them often in my early garden days but I learned quickly… -
Meet a new blogger!
15 Jan 2010 | 8:04 pmI'd like to introduce a new blog to you. My friend Jennifer lives just over the Tennessee state line which is about 20 miles from me. We met a few years ago when she visited my garden. She has a talent for rooting plants and I guess you could call her a rose rustler. Her blog is titled "Confessions of a Serial Tiller" (I love it!) and I'm looking forward to it. Blog away Jennifer!Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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Nevertheless...
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Ricotta Orange Poundcake
22 Jan 2010 | 6:36 pmWell. Sometimes things work and sometimes they don't. And sometimes they do a little of both. I'm a fan of most of Giada de Laurentis' recipes and this one had a pretty high rating. I read the reviews and so was prepared for the possibilities. Overall people loved it, but a good handful said it overflowed and another handful said it wasn't done in the middle. Sadly, mine turned out raw in the middle. And the first forkful I tried to taste slipped off the fork and onto the floor. AHHHHH! At least it was a pretty simple recipe to put together, so I didn't have a big time investment in the deal. -
Remembering Grandpa Bill
12 Jan 2010 | 9:31 amI found out yesterday that Grandpa Bill passed away a couple months ago. And so here's to remembering all the fun garden times, drinking sweet tea with him and Larry out on the patio, and hearing all sorts of advice. These pictures are from when Ciara and I planted Yukon Gold potatoes at his house and thoroughly confused him that we didn't know how to cut the potato up. This also led to the conversation with Grandpa Cliff on the correct way to plant potatos... eye up or eye any which way. He is missed! -
Buttercup Bag
10 Jan 2010 | 6:20 pmMy last project pointed out to me the value of patterns. I tend to be a no-pattern, no-pinning, sew-as-you-go kind of person. Which, for what I am usually working on, is just fine. The previous apron project taught me a few things and so this year I WOULD like to add structure here and there to my projects in order to learn more. And so I found this cute bag pattern online at Made By Rae. It was super fun and easy to make, and I love the finished product. AND an additional bonus... I ran out tonight to get the magnetic snap which closes the top, and the trip took me right by Krispy Kreme. The… -
Emmeline Apron
4 Jan 2010 | 8:32 pmOne of my christmas presents was this adorable Emmeline apron pattern from Sew Liberated. It is reversible and can tie in the front or the back. I picked out these fun Amy Butler fabrics from the local Bernina store and whipped it up! Love love love it. It is so cute I want to wear it out. -
Gingerbread Throwdown
3 Jan 2010 | 7:20 pmOk... so this is a little past due. But a whirlwind of Christmas festivities, studying, life... just kept me a little busy! And in the middle of those festivities was a Gingerbread Throwdown. Seven girls + sugar = insanity. We had a great time and laughed hysterically. We were actually making miniature houses, and that's a good thing, because I'm not sure we would have survived full-on houses. I found a recipe for gingerbread on the Food Network's website which was super easy, and tasted great. AND made the apartment smell AMAZING. And the winner? That's yet to be seen...
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Natural Gardening
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Mistletoe berries
8 Feb 2010 | 6:57 pmWe're getting close to Valentine's Day, so a mistletoe post is timely. Kissing under the mistletoe has a long tradition more at Christmas than at Valentine's Day, though.Mistletoe is a flowering plant which is parasitic for water and minerals, while its green leaves photosynthesize. The seeds get around by bird dispersal; seeds either adhere to bird's feet after preening, or pass through the gut during digestion. -
Finally some sun
7 Feb 2010 | 4:43 pmHappily, it was sunny and dry today. Yesterday, too. Cloudy with intermittent sun was a lot better than the rain that was predicted for yesterday, and today was just plain nice late winter weather (for the Southeastern US), with a high around 50°F.I saw a downy woodpecker foraging for breakfast on my morning walk.It was definitely nice enough to find me tidying the garden shed, poking around the beds, and doing some weeding.Amazingly, the squirrels had left just enough radicchio to harvest and try roasting with garlic, olive oil, and herbs. Yum. It was totally different than the bitter… -
Rain, rain, and more rain
5 Feb 2010 | 5:06 pmAfter a decade of drought, I guess I really should be grateful for the abundance of moisture that's recharged aquifers, and led to an official 'end of drought' pronouncement. But it's been so wet, cold, icy, and dark (at least for wimpy Southern gardeners like me), I'm looking for all the signs of spring that I can find.I can't get out and DO anything in my beds; they're way too wet and it's been icy or pouring for every weekend for weeks. We haven't been able to go up to build new beds in the mountains, either, because of snow and ice. OK, I'll get a grip on reality; much of the temperate… -
Early flowers
4 Feb 2010 | 6:20 pmLeaving from home late this afternoon, I noticed that the old pink quince next to the driveway (moved from our house in Georgia and one of the first shrubs we planted as young homeowners) has open flowers. Definitely spring is on the way, in spite of the sleet and snowflakes on the road.I always notice its buds in (what passes for) the dead of winter here, and has been particularly so this year.The shoots on the coral honeysuckles (Lonicera sempervirens) are elongating quickly, the bare vines supporting young green leaves.Daffodil shoots are well up, and the first flowers of weedy winter… -
Looking forward to fresh vegetables
2 Feb 2010 | 5:53 pmIf I'd put up simple hoop houses last fall, maybe I'd have more to harvest after all the exceptionally cold weather. Or maybe not. My flats of greens (in the open) look fine, and have sailed through quite a bit of pummeling, but they don't look robust or large enough to harvest, as of yet.Vegetables in a Vietnamese marketEven in the sheltered kitchen garden (near my office, at the botanical garden where I work), to be honest, the cold and damp (sometimes icy) weather doesn't much encourage me to go out and cut bunches of kale, argula, cilantro, or poke around for turnips, even though they…
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Outside Clyde
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Snow Fatigue
8 Feb 2010 | 2:16 pmI dreamed I was a prisoner in SiberiaLocked in a deep freeze for eternityAn enchanted emerald forest forever frozen stillExceptHidden denizens like translucent ghosts carry onAgainst the white and more white backgroundStenciled brown edges form substanceForm the frozen worldFar awayFar away in another land and timeThe green world is waitingUntil after the nextComing winter storm.I could be -
The View Hasn't Changed
7 Feb 2010 | 3:16 pmBut in the last twenty four hours two inches of new snow has piled up on the ground and a thick layer of ice crystals has coated the forest.The thick cold fog may have ebbed now and again. Mostly it just kept flowing through.Creating some mighty painful looking frost.One would think such poor conditions would have kept everyone and everything safely tucked in their burrows. Apparently not. All -
Snowmarks
7 Feb 2010 | 2:26 amThe all powerful Google is boon and bane. There is so much free stuff to use like Blogger and Picasa for all the pictures that appear on this blog. Still, I have not even scratched the surface of the free stuff Google will do for you. Most of the gadgets and buttons available with Blogger are ignored. I have my limits.I write words and post pictures and they get stored in Google's big giant brain -
Total Slop
5 Feb 2010 | 1:55 pmWithout a doubt this has been the most awful slop of weather I have seen since moving to this monsoon prone mountain top. And I have seen a lot of weathers since moving here. This is no tropical desert where 320 days of the year there are partly cloudy skies with trade winds between 15 and 20 mph, high of 84, low of 72.The internet disappeared last night right before bed and I correctly guessed -
The Vernal Clock
4 Feb 2010 | 2:58 pmThis is about the time I start thinking, weren't the daffodils further along last year at this time. Shouldn't there be more bulbs coming up. There were more sunny warm days weren't there.There certainly wasn't this much snow on the ground hanging around forever and refusing to melt last year. As it stands now I have no way of knowing what the daffodils might be doing. I can go back in time on
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The Home Garden: Gardening in the Home Landscape
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How Big is a Moonflower Bloom?
9 Feb 2010 | 7:00 amHow big is a moonflower bloom? Let me show you! If you use the lens cap of my camera as an indicator this moonflower bloom on our arbor is roughly 6-8 inches in diameter! Below the moonflower is a purple sweet potato vine. I think the dark foliage and bright white blooms look great together. Perhaps this year I'll attempt to train the sweet potato vine to climb the arbor with its white blooming cousin rather than sprawl on the ground everywhere. Of course it does look good sprawling! Subscribe to read more from The Home Garden Originally written by Dave @ The Home Garden Not to be reproduced… -
Perennials Around the Deck
8 Feb 2010 | 6:00 pmIn my last post I showed you some of the perennials around our vegetable garden. In this post I'll show you some of the perennials in the garden around our deck. Despite my title not all of these plants are perennials. One of the most striking plants in this grouping is in fact an annual - the moonflower. It blooms in the late afternoons and evenings, plus looks great on arbors! I hope to start several of these indoors in biodegradable pots before planting outside. I suspect rabbits took a few nibbles and delayed the growth of moonflowers in my 2009 garden. In the foreground is one of my… -
Perennials Around the Vegetable Garden
8 Feb 2010 | 8:11 amThis time of year when the weather is inhospitable I take a look back through the pictures I've taken and informally review the previous year. That's one great advantage when you blog, you have a record of most things and photographs of almost everything else! Here's a picture from September just outside our vegetable garden. In the fuzzy foreground is a butterfly bush I made from cuttings a while back. Just past the butterfly bush is a mistflower which is almost hiding a 'Black and Blue' salvia. The splotches of red in the back are zinnias. Zinnias are such easy growers to include in the… -
How to Add Magic to the Garden
7 Feb 2010 | 3:30 amMagic is something I’ve been fascinated with since I was a kid. Not card tricks, rabbits out of hats, and other birthday party magic. It’s the stories from fairy tales and King Arthur to the myths and legends of various cultures have always caught my attention. I’ll admit it, I’m a science fiction and fantasy junkie. I suppose I’m drawn by the excitement and mystery of the stories but mostly because I enjoy the use of the imagination. How the imagination is weaved into the story is what makes a difference between a story and something that can be called a legend. -
It Won't Be Long...
5 Feb 2010 | 8:15 pm...before the daffodils bloom! We are definitely behind last year's blooms. The only daffodils I saw outside today were 1-2 inch leaves protruding from the ground. Anyone have a guess as to when the first daffodil in my garden will be blooming? Latest Greenhouse Post: How I'll Use My Greenhouse.Subscribe to read more from The Home Garden Originally written by Dave @ The Home Garden Not to be reproduced or re-blogged without permission. No feed scraping is permitted. All Rights Reserved.
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Sharing Nature's Garden
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Presents on the doorstep...
2 Feb 2010 | 6:03 pmA big box from Gardener's Supply Company arrived on my doorstep today.I was excited and eager to learn its contents. But not as eager, it seems, as my bubbies, who stuck their big noses right into the middle of things.They were so disappointed that there wasn't anything in there for them -- just boring old seed heat mats. (Maybe they will grow something we can eat later, they thought!)They were only moderately interested as I modeled my new garden clogs. Not too interesting when they are on my feet.(But Tanner was thinking..."oooh, I can snag one of those when she leaves them outside the back… -
Plants with interest in Winter
30 Jan 2010 | 6:03 amWith yesterday's beating rain, and last night's predicted freeze, I decided to cut my first two daffodils and bring them inside to enjoy.It was just too painful to watch the only flowers in my garden lying prone on the ground in a puddle.So I rescued them. Now I can sit and look at them beside me this morning while I enjoy a cup of tea and blog by the fireplace.They seem to be enjoying my company inside!While looking around the garden at all the dead, dying and dormant plants, I found a few bright spots.Like this native Yaupon Holly, Ilex vomitoria, growing wild in our wooded area. It's… -
This ain't no mellow yellow!
28 Jan 2010 | 6:28 amOk.Admit it.You've been waiting with bated breath to see the first Daffodil of pseudo-Spring here in Austin!And here she is.I think she's a "Yellow Fortune", but then again, she could be a "Dutch Master."In any case, she's pretty and a single spot of color on this gray and rainy winter day.I enjoyed my one warm day in the garden this week and got a lot done, but now it's back to reality.Thunderstorms are forecast for today and tomorrow night we are expecting a low of 28 - pretty cold for us.And then highs in the 40s for the weekend.Not gardening weather, but definitely good for the garden. We… -
Wildflower Wednesday
27 Jan 2010 | 5:47 amOur blogging friend Gail, over at Clay and Limestone, has invited us to post our wildflower photos on this fourth Wednesday of the month.When I first saw her post, I thought, "wildflowers...now?"Well, no, not now, but soon! And that's her point. Watching them creep along until they burst forth with beautiful color, dotting our landscape.The one most easily identified right now in my garden is, of course, the bluebonnet. So, here are a few -- first, what I am seeing scattered about today...And what I hope to see when Spring has officially arrived! -
My little pretties are popping up...
25 Jan 2010 | 6:13 pmOh, the pretty ladies of Spring are putting on their finery to come to the party.I've been all excited about the little green stalks of Narcissus peeking up out of the mulch in various garden beds.So you can imagine how worked up I got when I realized today, that I actually have things in bloom!Several Grape Hyacinths are blooming and have clearly naturalized with lots of little friends popping up right behind them.I forgot I'd planted them, but when I searched previous posts, I found them here: http://bit.ly/8aqGGsI realized that they came in an indoor pot with daffodils that I put in the…
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The Transplantable Rose
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The Great Houseplant Census of 2010
3 Feb 2010 | 8:22 pmMr McGregor's Daughter has suggested a mid-winter diversion - to number and share the houseplants currently in captivity in our dwellings. I'm granting myself a lot of permissions here - #1 is permission to be late! #2 is to count anything that's within the walls for the winter, including some stuff in the garage. #3 is to call everything by its common name instead of trying to hunt down the -
Lose Some, Win Some
28 Jan 2010 | 1:26 pmThis post, "Lose Some, Win Some ", was written for my blogspot blog called The Transplantable Rose by Annie in Austin.ED Jan 29: Looking into the back garden at house #3 Illinois - mid-1990'sWinter in Illinois meant -15°F/-26°C, shoveling snow, chopping ice and growing a garden full of dormant plants. Eleven winters in Austin have taught me to expect occasional snow, some spectacular ice storms, -
Garden Blogger Bloom Day, January 2010
15 Jan 2010 | 8:56 pmWhen the amaryllis bud refused to unfold and the rain pelted down, I thought January Garden Bloom Day was a wash. But inspiration hit after I took the camera and an umbrella outside.Just under the wire, here's my parody tribute to the great Fats Waller for May Dreams Carol and Blooming Day:It's only 90 seconds but Philo and I fit in a lot of photos - we hope you enjoy it!Go to Carol's blog for -
How Low Can They Go
9 Jan 2010 | 4:20 pmMy friend Pam/Digging recently made a great post for a regional gardening roundup of writers, all celebrating the kind of garden designs that emphasize what makes a region of the country unique - those styles, materials, plants and way of blending with existing landscape that makes sure no one will mistake a Texas gardens for one in New England or Alabama or even California. In a modest way I'm -
Blooms of Late December
23 Dec 2009 | 12:03 pmOn the official bloomingday the 15th of December, the word wasn't Flower but Flour - it makes me happy to send a few homemade cookies with the Christmas presents to our families. Last week's chilly weather also put me in the mood to stay close to the warm oven and use old favorite recipes while watching vintage movies like Casablanca and Heaven Knows, Mr Allison. World War 2 movies somehow
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Vert
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Behold: A Thing of Beauty
2 Feb 2010 | 4:15 pmWhat? Not exactly what you were expecting? So, no, this tankless water heater isn't specifically a garden-related item, but it partially does explain my absence from my blog. And it does explain my new desire to hug shiny metal objects.After hating our bathroom for many years, the husband and I decided the moment was nigh to do something about it. Everything in the bathroom, as in much of the -
Cibolo Nature Center in Boerne
9 Nov 2009 | 9:16 amLast Sunday I had a need to get out of town. The weather that weekend was gorgeous, and I needed an outdoor fix that my garden and the rest of Austin couldn't fill. I had long ago put Cibolo Nature Center in Boerne on my short list of places to visit after reading Pamela Price's tweets about it. (She also kindly assured me that dogs were indeed welcome to visit. After our trip last summer to -
Etiquette for Butterflies
23 Oct 2009 | 4:10 pmTomorrow (Saturday, October 24) is the Inside Austin Gardens tour presented by the Travis County Master Gardener Association. All of the yards featured are National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitats, which means they are happy places for plants and animals.I haven't yet certified my yard (it's on the list!) but I have made it a happy place for some animals, caterpillars in -
Roadtripping Through National Parks
16 Oct 2009 | 10:00 amPam of Digging is hosting a bloggers' celebration of national parks this week. As soon as she mentioned it, I knew I wanted to post about our roadtrip out west over Christmas/New Year's in 2006/2007. Between buying a new laptop and transferring photos and other files, and having said two-week-old laptop broken by a to-remain-nameless four-legged animal, it's taken me this long to post.For the -
The Big Island: Animal Edition
12 Sep 2009 | 9:59 amRainbow over Kilauea IkeLast month my husband and I were lucky enough to travel to Hawaii, the Big Island, for someone's big digit birthday. (Hint, it wasn't mine.)When I saw all that was growing on the Big Island, I thought about a post comparing the beautiful, luscious plants to the same variety growing (or rather, not growing) in my yard. I quickly realized that such a post would be just
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In the Garden Online
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Make Your Own Solid Perfume
6 Feb 2010 | 4:38 amI’m not really much of a girly-girl, but I absolutely love perfumes and scented body lotions. I started ordering more natural lotions and perfumes from local sellers on Etsy, but that gets... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
Review: Black Plants – 75 Striking Choices for the Garden
4 Feb 2010 | 6:01 pmBlack Plants: 75 Striking Choices for the Garden By Paul Bonine Timber Press, 2010 ISBN 978-0-88192-981-2 As I mentioned in my review of The Gardener’s Color Palette, I am starting to... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
Trying to remind myself that snow is good…
3 Feb 2010 | 6:30 amSnow is good. Snow provides insulation for perennials. It makes the garden look clean and pretty. Snow is good. Snow is good. Snow is good. (I am so tired of snow right now!) [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
Shadows in Honor of Groundhog Day (Or, how to tell whether you have bright light or not)
2 Feb 2010 | 7:56 am“You want a prediction about the weather? You’re asking the wrong Phil. I’ll give you a winter prediction: It’s gonna be cold, it’s gonna be grey, and it’s gonna... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
Traditional Wisdom About Chives
1 Feb 2010 | 6:54 amContinuing on from last week’s post about lavender, let’s look at another herb. Chives are one of those herbs that I will always grow in my garden. I grow both regular chives and garlic... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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Mr. McGregor's Daughter
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Check This Out
9 Feb 2010 | 7:22 amRead my review of Grocery Gardening at Carpe Geum to learn whether you should Buy It, Read It, or Forget It. -
I'm Lichen It
5 Feb 2010 | 10:50 amWith the garden covered in snow, I have to really hunt to find color outdoors. This lichen on the Magnolia was all I found, but what a find. It's taken winter blahs to make me look closely to see the beauty that's been there all along.Lichens are symbiotic organisms, made up of a fungus and either an alga (the singular of algae) or a cyanobacteria. The fungi obtain water and minerals, while -
The Great Houseplant Census of 2010
1 Feb 2010 | 10:01 pmWelcome to the Great Houseplant Census of 2010.* The impetus behind the census is that one evening, my Very Indulgent Spouse (VIS) looked around the kitchen and family room and commented, "Wow, you have a lot of houseplants." I denied it immediately, and reminded him of how I've been frequently guilty of the involuntary plantslaughter of houseplants. For contrast, I described to him Elizabeth -
The Tale of the Fox and the Squirrel
31 Jan 2010 | 10:31 amI hate the look of chainlink fencing, but I'm hesitant to do anything about screening off my view of the chainlink fence that borders the east side of the garden. It's not my fence, although I could put bamboo fencing in front of it. I haven't because then I wouldn't be able to see the wildlife on the other side, such as the Great Blue Herons and Great Egrets, and this morning's drama of the -
Frigid Friday: After the Thaw
29 Jan 2010 | 9:25 amFor Christopher of Outside Clyde, my Snowdrops (Galanthus elwesii) as of yesterdayWhile I enjoyed wearing only one pair of socks and forsaking long underwear for a few days, last week's thaw has got me very worried. The garden wasn't slumbering blissfully under all that snow. The meltage revealed plants actively growing,Aquilegia vulgarissending up shoots,Helleborus x hybridussprouting buds,
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My Skinny Garden
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Cafe Ba Ba Reeba Las Vegas: The Tomato Trip
8 Feb 2010 | 5:11 amRemember that tomato contest I won back in August 2009? Well we finally took our free trip to Las Vegas. What a great time! As it turns out, gambling is way less stressful when your airfare, hotel and dinner are paid for by somebody else. We stayed at the Paris Hotel which we found very comfortable. If you're thinking of heading to Vegas, check them out. They have a really nice spa which I spent nearly an entire day at spending all the money I'd won playing blackjack the first two nights. Did you know that you can buy a little Black Jack card to tell you exactly what to play no matter what… -
How Your Botanical Interests Seed Order Can Help Chicago Area Community Garden
16 Jan 2010 | 6:40 amFor most hardcore gardeners, winter time means time for browsing seed catalogs, agonizing over what to grow in the garden come spring and finally making that seed order from your favorite vendor(s). It is fun, stressful and exhilarating all balled up into one.This year, the Forest Park Community Garden has teamed up with Botanical Interests for a fundraiser. Order seeds from Botanical Interests using this link and 25% of your purchase helps provide an on-sight water collection system for the Forest Park Community Garden. Our plot renters hauled jugs of water to their gardens all season last… -
Spinach Correnta: How Monsanto Can Improve Their Reputation with Home Gardeners
7 Jan 2010 | 5:00 pmThe other day, I had a great conversation with Botanical Interest's seed buyer, Janis Kieft about the seed buying business. I found Janis to be very knowledgeable and transparent about the company she works for and the seed buying/selling industry in general and I appreciated that.When I asked Janis if Botanical Interests still sells Seminis/Monsanto seeds, she flipped through a few papers then told me without hesitation that they still get the Celebrity Tomato seeds from them. "Celebrity is a very popular tomato for home gardeners." Then Janis went on to explain why Botanical Interests has… -
Wordless Wednesday: Red Twig Dogwood
6 Jan 2010 | 5:54 amMore Wordless Wednesday -
Dwarf Zebra Grass in the Snow
3 Jan 2010 | 5:24 pmAccording to the time stamps on my most recent photos, I haven't had my camera out since late August when I took pictures at the tomato contest. Wow. Over four months have slipped by me. My motivation today came while I was catching up with some of my favorite garden blogs. Over at Gardening Gone Wild, they're hosting a monthly photo contest called Picture This, just for us bloggers. I sure wish I'd taken some photos a few weeks ago when all the trees were covered and glistening with ice. It was really beautiful. Still, I found this Dwarf Zebra Grass looked kind of cool against the snowy…
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Our Little Acre
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Where Did Those BUGS Come From?
8 Feb 2010 | 7:00 amNo matter how careful you are to treat your outside plants for insect pests in the fall, before you bring them in for the winter, you'll likely encounter some anyway, before winter's over. The last couple of years, I finally got the fungus gnats under control. I learned not to overwater and that was a huge help. I'll see one now and then, but not nearly like I did that first winter that I had so many plants in the house. That first winter, I also had problems with white flies on the Brugmansia plants. I thought I'd never get rid of those. Took me half the winter to do so. … -
On Blue Poppies, Winter Sowing, and Super Sow Sunday
7 Feb 2010 | 9:02 amFirst of all, let me just get it out there so we know where I stand. I hate football. I don't really understand the game, but then I've not tried very hard to understand it. We didn't have football at our school until we consolidated with two other schools when I was a sophomore. My first encounter with it was when, as a cheerleader, I had to cheer about a game I didn't like. But I did love my Raiders! We live close to the Indiana border and Hoosier Hysteria has spilled over into our part of Ohio and has nothing on us. At Wayne Trace, basketball has been king for… -
Some Thoughts About Winter Weather
5 Feb 2010 | 9:39 pmI've had the flu for the last couple of days, but am feeling better (thank you for asking). I've spent a great deal of time on the couch, and thank goodness for my laptop, because it's kept me in touch with the rest of the world via Facebook and Twitter. A large part of Twitter conversations this evening were related to the giant snowstorm currently sweeping across the eastern part of the U.S. Outside my nice, toasty warm family room, I can hear the howling wind and can see the snow that has been blown and attached itself to the windows. Romie announced earlier when he went out to tend… -
Five Easy Houseplants
5 Feb 2010 | 7:03 pmWhile we're talking about houseplants, (and boy are we talking about houseplants!), I took inventory of how many and what kind I have taking up space and my energy. Some orchids (16), a few brugmansias (5), and an assortment of succulents (11) are just part of what gives me a grand total of 157. This is down from the last time I counted, back in 2007, when I had over 175. I have my favorites, of course, but I also have those that now leave me scratching my head, wondering why I continue to bother with them. I've said before that I have a problem disposing of anything that has a… -
Succulents Make the Perfect Houseplants
1 Feb 2010 | 9:01 pmYesterday, I received a copy of Debra Lee Baldwin's new book, Succulent Container Gardens. I'd been waiting anxiously to see it, because though I've grown various succulent-type plants longer than I've actually been a gardener, I never was too excited about any of them. This past year though, they've caught my fancy and I appreciate their unique artsy forms and easy care. L-R: Ric-Rac Cactus (Cryptocereus anthonyanus), Haworthia pumila, Senecio 'Kilimanjaro,' Aloe maculata They're actually perfect for just about anyone, especially those who forget to water. Succulents have that little issue…
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Our Twenty Minute Kitchen Garden
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Brew Day – A Few More Specifics
6 Feb 2010 | 9:26 am"...In case anyone is following along at home, this is a rough approximation of the recipe we used..." -
Winter Brew Day
5 Feb 2010 | 1:59 pm...the house smelled like a brewery... -
Composting Together
1 Feb 2010 | 8:42 pmShortly after that, we noticed a padlock on the compost bin! -
Garden Planning Meeting
30 Jan 2010 | 1:43 pmIt’s still winter, which is part of the gardening season, believe it or not. In Michigan, it’s the planning, dreaming and scheming phase of gardening. We have the good fortune of gardening with our next door neighbor, a generous senior citizen who appreciates gardening enough to share her ground with us. She had invited [...] -
National Pie Day
29 Jan 2010 | 7:53 amHow did you celebrate National Pie Day? Fortunately, a friend informed me about the annual January 23rd event in time for me to make a Wild Blueberry Pie. Fortunate again that we had frozen wild blueberries in the freezer, set aside for an occasion just like this. I think the folks at the American [...]
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Sweet Home and Garden Chicago
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GARDEN DESIGNERS ROUND TABLE
9 Feb 2010 | 7:23 amAt the suggestion of Pam Penick of Digging ( thanks, Pam !) , Scott Hokunson of Blueheronlandscapes.com invited me to join with 22 other garden and landscape designers from across the USA to " discuss and explore the world of garden design. "You will recognize many of the members of the round table because they are not just well-known designers but garden bloggers as well.I'm honored to be a part of such a great group and hope you'll join us each month at Garden Designers Round Table .Written by Carolyngail at Sweet Home and Garden ChicagoAll rights reserved -
GOOD FENCES MAKE GOOD NEIGHBORS
4 Feb 2010 | 8:30 amMENDING FENCESSomething there is that doesn't love a wall,That sends the frozen ground swell under itAnd spills the upper boulders in the sun;And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.The work of hunters is another thing;I have come after them and made repairWhere they have left not one stone on a stone,But they would have the rabbit out of hiding,To please the yelping dogs. The gaps I mean,No one has seen them made or heard them made,Butat Spring mending-time we find them there.I let my neighbor know beyond the hill;And on a day we meet to walk the lineAnd set the wall between us as we go.To… -
Lynwood Gold's Last Year in the Garden
3 Feb 2010 | 10:58 amMy Forsythia 'Lynwood gold ' is over 20 and two years ago came down with crown gall. Lynwood was too big for her britches and I resorted to pruning her back to maintain her shape in my small urban garden. It was just that pruning I think that caused her to get the crown gall, a bacteria or fungus. If you regularly prune shrubs to keep their size its a good idea to sterilize your pruners with regular household bleach to prevent the introduction of bacteria and fungus.I tried to prune out the diseased parts of the Forsythia but it didn't help so now I'll have to resort to removal. The soil in… -
GARDEN BLOGGERS' MUSE DAY-FEBRUARY 1
31 Jan 2010 | 7:43 amThe Gardener by Moi New feet within my garden goNew fingers stir the soil A troubadour upon the elm betrays the solitudeNew children play upon the greenNew weary sleep below and still the pensive Spring returns And still the punctual snow-Emily DickinsonThe " Belle of Amherst " was better known as a gardener than a poet when she died at the young age of 55. A poet that used flowers as metaphors -love, death,rebirth, life, Dickinson studied Botany from the age of 9 . She tended the garden at Homestead, which was well known and admired locally. Unfortunately, the garden did not survive. Close… -
GARDENING SINGLETONS
27 Jan 2010 | 7:57 amGardeners are passionate about their craft and love nothing better than finding a soul mate that share their interest. Just when I think I've seen it all I found two dating sites for gardeners : www.gardeningpassions.com and www.greenthumbdating.As many plants as there are, a lack of subject matter to talk about won't be a problem.Written by Carolyngail at Sweet Home and Garden ChicagoAll rights reserved
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Gardens of the Wild Wild West
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Gardening 365, Day 39
8 Feb 2010 | 2:15 pmSomedays, this is enough to make you smile! Gardening 365, Day 39 is a post from: Gardens of the Wild Wild West -
Gardening 365, Day 38.
7 Feb 2010 | 8:46 pmIt just scared the bee-jabbers out of me to realize one tenth of this year is GONE, really gone, gone gone gone. It was seeing the 38/365 in the title. YIKES! To soothe the winter weary soul, to warm your little cockles, I give you these: Gardening 365, Day 38. is a post from: Gardens of the Wild Wild West -
Gardening 365, Day 37
6 Feb 2010 | 3:37 pmAnother little teaser photo as I go through the piles of photos from the Northwest Flower and Garden Show. I could use an outdoor kitchen like this: I don’t need or want one of those $35,000 numbers. No thanks. Gardening 365, Day 37 is a post from: Gardens of the Wild Wild West -
Gardening 365, Day 36
5 Feb 2010 | 3:31 pmTried to upload this from the Seattle Airport last night w/no luck and even worse connection. Here’s the little guy that made a break for it at the garden show. I called the caper: Goats do Roam. (play on Cotes du Rhone) Gardening 365, Day 36 is a post from: Gardens of the Wild Wild West -
Gardening 365, Day 35
4 Feb 2010 | 10:55 pmTo quote my pal, Lorene Edwards Forkner: Vegetable gardening is the gateway drug to ornamental gardening. I say this is one fine Tater Tot. See where it got me? Gardening 365, Day 35 is a post from: Gardens of the Wild Wild West
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The Gardens of Petersonville
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Saturated
8 Feb 2010 | 1:56 pmWe have been having significant rainfall this year and there is more to come. The ground is significantly saturated and the drains are running full force. Now I'm getting a bit worried about plants that are susceptible to rot like this iris. Will they be able to make it through this rainy season? Only time will tell. -
Empty Little Pocket Garden
6 Feb 2010 | 9:39 amLast fall this little planter was the location of a big leak and had to have all the shrubs that were in it removed and the soil dug out. This has resulted in an empty (except for a few weeds) little planter on the side of the steps leading to the gravel garden in SJC. I am looking forward to planting some sort of shade garden here with plants that will be viewed at waist level. It allows for small, interesting plants that may typically get lost to the eye in a ground level garden. While it is raining this week I will be looking through gardening books for a bit of inspiration. -
Artichokes Are Back
5 Feb 2010 | 1:32 pmOne of the things I love about blogging about my garden is that it is an excellent way to keep records. In fact I have realized it is about the only way I am going to keep records despite my best intentions. For instance, I was going to write about how big and bushy my artichoke plants are this month when I noticed a post I did last February about them actually blooming that time of year. I guess I should be watching for blooms any time now. I certainly hope they are better on this plant than they were last year. They were a big disappointment as far as meat and taste go. I am hoping it is… -
February Pink
4 Feb 2010 | 7:49 amLooking for spots of color in the garden this week it is impossible to overlook Marguerite daisies (chrysanthemum frutescens). Blooming in white and this pretty pink, so appropriate for the month of Valentines' Day, they are good sports about putting up with the damp cool weather we have been having and continue to bloom enthusiastically. -
Not Big Enough?
3 Feb 2010 | 2:05 pmWhile walking by this little wooden birdhouse in the garden the other day I couldn't help but notice that it was looking a bit tattered. Upon close inspection it actually looks like something has been gnawing away at it around the opening. The only birds that use this house that I have noticed are little house wrens, but maybe a much bigger bird is considering moving in!
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The Blogging Nurseryman by Trey Pitsenberger
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Are you a hunter or farmer?
6 Feb 2010 | 12:35 pmInteresting post by Seth Godin on “Hunters and Farmers”. One bullet point mentions, “Hunters are in sync with Google, a hunting site, farmers like Facebook.” Read the post and see where you fall. Facebook has been fun, but I just don’t spend the time on it to nurture relationships like so many others are good at. [...] -
The hybrid garden center
6 Feb 2010 | 9:13 amI received a e-mail from a friend in the northern California garden center business the other day. Here is part of it, “How are you doing up there? I love your website! Do you do all this yourself? Seems like a great idea…business has been slow here. I’m getting pretty tired of [...] -
The Home Depot of medical cannabis?
29 Jan 2010 | 7:12 amWe have talked about our foray into indoor gardening and hydroponics in the past. What we have found is there is a tremendous opportunity for crossover sales. I had a presentation the other day at our local garden club. The discussion was on all the new items we carry at the garden center. We focused [...] -
Changes coming to your box store garden center
16 Jan 2010 | 7:45 amMore interesting news concerning Home Depot and Hines Nursery. According to Les, “Hines has given all their reps notice that at the end of January they will be let go. Home Depot is going to a program where the merchandising company will manage the ordering at the store level. This is the same merchandising company [...] -
Sustainability leads the way
14 Jan 2010 | 6:56 amOut here in nor Cal it seems that 2010 will be a lot like 2009 when it comes to what people will be buying in the garden center. My guess is fruit trees and other edibles will lead the way with ornamental shrubs and trees lagging. If the economy is improving elsewhere it sure hasn’t [...]
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Terra Nova Ecological Landscaping blog
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Jerob Chop of Terra Nova leading a fruit tree pruning workshop for our Sustainability Workshop Series. Let’s just say Jerob is a budding teacher. Good job Jerob!
8 Feb 2010 | 4:33 pm -
Terra Nova Sustainability Workshop Series
1 Feb 2010 | 2:30 pmIntroduction to Permaculture Design Feb. 20th with Ken Foster FREE@ The Food Bin Garden At Mission & Laurel Streets, Santa Cruz 12 Noon -
Ken returns triumphant from tenth year riding to the Ecological Farming Conference.
27 Jan 2010 | 4:36 pmThe first post on this blog was about my ride to the Ecological Farming Conference three years ago. This year, January 20 – 23, 2010 was my tenth year riding by bicycle from Santa Cruz to the Asilomar conference grounds in Pacific Grove. Before the Ecological Farming Conference this year we put on a pre-conference on Wednesday January 20th called Ecological Landscaping Now! I was honored to be the M.C. for this day long conference. Below are my opening remarks and some photos from my ride and the conferences. We declare the age of : landscapes designed and installed with a cookie cutter… -
Ecological Landscaping conference Jan. 20, 2010 Save the date !
26 Nov 2009 | 1:46 pmRegister online here Click here to Download Conference Registration Form to mail or fax -
Synthetic Turf, Artificial Grass or Stepford Lawns ?
13 Oct 2009 | 4:00 pmRecently there has been a large movement towards installing synthetic turf. This new generation of Astro Turf often called ‘eco turf’’, is being touted as the newest in green landscaping. To be sure, there is an impressive list of ecological concerns that this turf addresses including the elimination of the need to mow, water, install irrigation, control weeds, fertilize or haul away grass clippings. The latest synthetic turf is even made from recycled plastic and is recyclable at the end of its life. It is true that you can play on it in the rain and it won’t get muddy and it is…
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Robert Kourik's Garden Roots
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A RANT
5 Feb 2010 | 4:29 pmEverybody seems to be jumping on the bandwagon to “Buy Local”. “Think Globally, Act Locally”. Then they turn to Amazon to buy a book or whatever. Since the Internet is not “local”, I’ve come up with the phrase: “BUY FROM THE SOURCE TO HELP KEEP WRITERS WRITING”I have had a special offering of $20 [no S&H or tax] to readers of my blog for my book on Drip Irrigation since December 29, 2009. Not one -
A Glimmer of Fall Color
10 Jan 2010 | 11:01 am<!--StartFragment--> There are two natural seasons of leaf fall here. To save moisture near the end of a long, dry summer, the native horse chestnuts drop many or all of their crispy-brown leaves by early September to stop transpiration. The redwoods let loose thousands of their tawny-brown needled leaves, but remain evergreen. The lane is mulched by the enormous release of this otherwise -
Glorious Monarch Butterflies
10 Jan 2010 | 10:44 am<!--StartFragment--> I’ve always been enchanted by Monarch butterflies. I still have the Monarch butterflies I captured and mounted in my butterfly collection when I was about ten. (Back then butterflies were everywhere and the world seemed abundant and Earth Day didn’t exist. What seems like an ecological travesty now was a simple hobby back in the early 1960s.) There’s something about the bold -
9 Jan 2010 | 1:38 pm
9 Jan 2010 | 1:38 pmSpecial offer for blog readers: Only $20 [lists for $24.95] No tax.Autograph included.Includes Free Priority Mail!Buy From the Source So Writers Can Keep on Writing®Send a check made out to Metamorphic Press to: Metamorphic Press, PO Box 412, Occidental, CA 95465(Say you saw it on the blog. So the readers of my web site & PayPal don't get confused.)Information about the book:As a celebration of -
Invisible Fire
9 Jan 2010 | 1:27 pm<!--StartFragment--> Fire. Essential and dreaded. Fire has historical tendrils back to primeval times when people first discovered how to make fire when needed. Fire also includes the combustion and flames of a gas stove and oven, campfires, propane-fueled lanterns, and barbecue briquettes. All welcomed, desired. Every garden is always on “fire”—without flames. Combustion is the oxidation of
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North Coast Gardening Blog
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Hellebore Plant Profile
3 Feb 2010 | 8:00 amDuring the winter months I thought it would be fun to showcase plant profiles of my favorite garden workhorse plants and new plants I'm interested in growing. This week's plant profile is the hellebore.Hellebore (Helleborus comprise) is a plant I've always wanted to try out in my garden. Long ago when I first started gardening I ordered a live hellebore plant that didn't survive after planting. I've been wanting more hellebores ever since. Hellebores are long lived perennials that bloom in mid-winter through mid-spring. Hellebores are frost-resistant and many are evergreen, providing… -
Haiti Earthquake Contact And Relief Information
27 Jan 2010 | 8:00 amEureka's January 9 6.5 earthquake made us feel lucky here that there were so few injuries and that damage was kept lower than it could have been in such a large earthquake. Our Victorian home stood with little damage other than falling paint chips and we feel fortunate for that. Haiti was not so lucky as they suffered through a 7.0 earthquake. With minimal infrastructure, poorly constructed homes and one of the highest poverty levels in the world, Haitians are in dire need of our help. We often forget how lucky we are in America that we have so much available to us in our everyday lives and… -
Kiwi Vines In Coastal Winter
20 Jan 2010 | 8:00 amThe two kiwi vines we have on our metal structure look very bare in January. The leaves decided to fall all at once during the cold weather in December. All that is left are long bare branches and vines twining with brown kiwi fruit hanging from the vines. It is stark to look at, the fruit hanging on one side of the structure and the bare branches sticking up four or five feet up in the air. All the big green leaves are gone, leaving the shape of the vines surrounding the long pipes of the metal structure. We tried one of the fruits to see how ripe they were. Still very tart but close to… -
Eureka Earthquake
13 Jan 2010 | 8:00 amEureka went through a 6.5 earthquake on Saturday, January 9, 2010. It was the biggest earthquake I or my husband had ever been in. He had gone through Loma Prieta, I've been through earthquakes in San Francisco and we've both been through earthquakes in Sonoma County, but nothing like this. Being 25 miles away from the epicenter may have something to do with it. Thank goodness the epicenter was offshore where quakes usually happen here and not on land.I can only describe the quake as if a freight train was running through our Victorian home. A photo from the local paper above shows a one… -
Preparing Plants For Cold Winter Weather
6 Jan 2010 | 8:00 amThe U.S. had quite a bit of frigid weather a few weeks ago. Here in Eureka it hit a low of 25 degrees at night, very cold for the coast during fall, heading into winter. In Oregon my mother-in-law had 10 degree weather. Although she receives snow at her inland Oregon location in winter, this spell was even colder than usual. This particular weather hit all over the U.S. causing early snowfall and dangerous conditions on the road.The passionflower vines did not die back surprisingly. The first year we were here there were some extra frosty mornings and the passionflower vines on the front…
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HAWAII GARDENING
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Flowering Cherry, Cool n' Mauka
7 Feb 2010 | 8:29 pmCherry blossoms fall,Hulihuli smokes our hair,Bees ignore our lunch.How can you tell when spring is arriving in Hawai'i? If you're upcountry in Waimea where the temps are cooler than in most places around the state, you'll get a clue from the bare cherry trees that begin bursting into pink blossoms, contrasting with the bright green lawn in the center of the town's church row. This past weekend, Waimea staged its 16th annual Cherry Blossom Festival, celebrating the cultural heritage and contributions of its long-established Japanese community.There were historical displays......which also… -
Wondrous Wing Beans
2 Jan 2010 | 12:34 amLast fall I received some wing beans (Psophocarpus tetragonolobus) and I became an instant convert. If they’re available, I’ll take wing beans any day over plain old green beans. These were from a bumper crop in the Hawai'i Island Master Gardener demonstration garden at the UH CTAHR Hilo extension service.Slice up the pods French style, lengthwise, and stirfry lightly with garlic, soy sauce, chicken, shrimp, tofu, or whatever protein you like. Fry only until pods are still bright green and firm – don’t overcook.The result is light, crunchy, slightly sweet and very tasty. Wing beans… -
Sustainable Guava Stick Trellis
4 Dec 2009 | 6:25 pmFirst, an apology. It has been over a month since my last post – sorry. My absence in blogsville was due to a few personal changes in November. Primarily I’ve been busy with other activities, working with youth in the community and concentrating on writing projects. The first snows are on the peaks of Mauna Kea, which means here at 3,500 feet elevation we’ve started lighting up fireplaces and hunkering down for the cool rainy season. Of course, plants have also slowed their growth, so I have to admit I haven’t been doing much hands-on gardening lately. However, I did have a little… -
Little Fire Ant ups the Ante
28 Oct 2009 | 9:32 pmLittle Fire Ant, an invasive species with a painful sting, is spreading quickly along the coast of East Hawai'i, creating havoc for gardeners, farmers, and pretty much anyone else who has the misfortune of discovering colonies. Little Fire Ants establish colonies usually in potted plants, trees and lawns, but will also enter all kinds of buildings - including homes, schools and businesses. Read about it in my article in the Oct. 28 issue of the Big Island Weekly -- click here.USDA photo -
Hawai'i School Gardens: Pa'auilo School
26 Oct 2009 | 9:48 pmAt the Hamakua Alive! festival held at Pa'auilo School this weekend, I saw many excellent ideas demonstrating sustainability in action, but most impressive was the school's garden itself. Above is one of the school's milk goats. (Would you believe it was love at first sight? Sigh.)Here are the greenhouses and gardens......here's Donna Mitts, garden educator,and the school's ever-expanding vermicomposting facilities ... I couldn't help but admire the efforts of Donna Mitts. She's gearing up to do mid-scale vermicomposting using cafeteria waste, making this the first school on the island to…
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Garden Wise Guy
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Looking at Green Through Rose Colored Glasses
5 Feb 2010 | 10:14 amI'm all for making the world a better place and the buzz word for getting there seems to be "green." But who decides what passes for green? No, I don't want another agency certifying who is and who isn't. But Jeez Louise, can't we tighten the definition to exclude healing crystals, eco-friendly dog obedience classes and all the other New Age crap that some folks try to foist on us?This blog post is a follow-up to my trip to the LA Go Green Expo, which was 90% supah dupah and dead-on in my book. But I had to have a LITTLE fun. And Ed Begley Jr. just qualified for the title of "Green Mensch"… -
True Confessions - Honest Scrap
3 Feb 2010 | 11:10 pmIf you say the title fast, it sounds like Honest Crap - sort of an oxymoron. Anyway, Barbara Wise at her BWiseGardening blog, wrote a revealing "things you probably don't know about me" post as part of the Honest Scrap Awards. It goes something like this...The award has two components: First, you list ten honest, interesting things about yourself and then you "present the award" to seven other bloggers. It's more "tag, you're it" than an award, but here goes.I'm injecting the truth serum now and hoping the statute of limitations has run out on a few of these tidbits.1. In my rock 'n roll… -
When Planets Align - Me and Shirley
21 Jan 2010 | 8:14 pmEvery once in a while someone comes into your life who is just meant to be there. A few years ago, I met Shirley Bovshow, first via comments on each other's blogs, then dimply face to scruffy forgot-to-shave face at the Portland Garden Writers Symposium in 2008. It was like we'd know each other since we were kids.Ever since, Shirley (the Brooklyn boy in me pronounces it SHOOOY-lee) and I have been looking out for each other, doing video projects at her skyrocketing Garden World Report online TV project and wherever else we can team up.This weekend, the Bovshow kid told me she'd be attend the… -
The SF Flower & Garden Show is Just Around the Corner
9 Jan 2010 | 10:51 pmI am SOOOO looking forward to the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show this year. Although I lived in the Bay Area for a while, I finally made my first visit to the show last year, and boy, was it worth my while......Embarrassing as it is to admit this, last year’s SFFGS was the first “real” garden show I’ve been to in my decades-long career in the landscape biz. I was the proverbial kid in a candy store. Aside from the great visual displays, there were hundreds of product and nursery booths with experts in every imaginable aspect of gardening.Here's the rest of the article at Fine… -
Lift a Fig Leave and What Do You Hope To See?
7 Jan 2010 | 10:38 amI enjoy being a garden writer. But sometimes I long to create something that gets readers all hot and bothered the old fashion way, with some sexy, steamy heat.Today I got my inspiration. While walking Biff the Wonder Spaniel, I espied a flagrant act of botanical erotica. As I scrambled to capture this public display on my camera, images of tattered, torrid romance novels cartwheeled past my mind’s eye.You know, like the paperbacks with the square jawed hero, blond hair blowing Favio-like, poofy pirate shirt ripped to the navel. And always the ravaged, redhead damsel nearly collapsed in his…
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Garden Porn
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Foliage - coming soon to a garden near you.
8 Feb 2010 | 3:03 pmWe've had a substantial amount of rain this season which I am very grateful for.Yipppeeee !Now the fun is just starting here in Northern California ; Dormant foliage is breaking threw the soil and showing us it's beautiful texture ,form and color.Soon the glorious big leaves of Canna's and Alocasias will be gracing the garden once again.I can hardly wait.From Pina Colada -
When it rains, it pours in the redwoods.
4 Feb 2010 | 6:50 pmLiving in the midst of the great redwoods is a fantastic experience. Especially during our wet winter months. When it is lightly raining in town, you can bet it is pouring in the adjoining redwood groves. From California Gardening The interesting thing is, that you can actually stay modestly dry when standing under the canopy of a grove of redwoods . The dense canopy of coniferous foliage filters out the heavy down pour into a pleasantly light mist. From California Gardening This makes for enjoyable moment in the hot tub if you happen to have one situated in a grove of redwoods. From… -
Let them Eat Cake.
28 Jan 2010 | 1:10 pmYeah, sure. Now I know why Marie Antoinette loved her rose garden so much. She didn’t have to work in it herself. If she did she would have probably taken a shovel to it and dug the whole sadistic thing up. From Loropetalum chinese Yesterday I almost finished the yearly BIG PRUNE at an estate garden . Despite wearing heavy duty long armed gloves I still received plenty of wounds, one which I may actually have to go see the Doctor for if it doesn’t heal within the next day or so. The only redeeming quality of a rose garden from my perspective is that as a horticulturist I get paid for… -
All Wet.
24 Jan 2010 | 1:15 pmNorthern California has been under a cloud of rain storms for the past week and a half. This is great news for our reservoirs, cisterns and wells. My own water catchment barrels are full to the brim. Come this summer when the rain is all but a distant memory some people will be turning on their fountains to once again whet their liquid senses. I’ve designed a variety of fountains. Some were designed for meditation purposes while others were designed to mask the noise of adjacent street traffic. Below is a brief sampling of fountains and why they were designed. For meditation - we cut and… -
Hope for regeneration
18 Jan 2010 | 12:15 pmThe affects of the big freeze that we had here in Northern California in early December are starting to really show. Some of the frost damaged foliage that was left in a state of blackened mush is starting to accumulate a variety of molds and that is a sad sign that a succulent plant is done for. Other plants that normally start to push out growth during our mild winter climate are still sitting dormant and showing no signs of regenerative life. I think it might be too cold for the winter dormancy to break. Usually I see new growth on many of the aeoniums but they are sitting silent.
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Garden Bliss
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Edible Landscaping Workshop ALERT
2 Feb 2010 | 9:59 am(Announcement from the California Center for Urban Horticulture)Edible Landscaping A "Your Sustainable Backyard" Workshop Gardens are not just for flowers anymore! Come learn about variety choice, bed preparation, planting, and harvesting- all using sustainable practices. Learn everything you need to know to get started on producing your own delicious fresh produce right in your own yard, no matter how small! Keynote speaker: Rosalind Creasy, well-known speaker and author of "Edible Landscaping: Now you can have your garden and eat it too! $45 registration fee includes morning coffee and… -
Northern CA Home & Landscape Expo
1 Feb 2010 | 3:55 pmStopped by the Northern California Home & Landscape Expo very briefly for a meeting-- more on that later-- and snapped a few phone pics of some nifty lighting and fountains that caught my eye. -
NEW BOOK! Fearless Color Gardens: The Creative Gardener's Guide to Jumping Off the Color Wheel
9 Jan 2010 | 12:16 pmBrand new book by garden artist Keeyla Meadows! -
NEW BOOK! Sunset Western Garden Book of Edibles
9 Jan 2010 | 10:58 amBrand spankin' new book from Sunset. Being published by Oxmoor House (I know! Freaky!). Pre-order for February 9 release date. -
Merry Christmas
23 Dec 2009 | 10:54 amWhat is Christmas? It is tenderness for the past, courage for the present, hope for the future. It is a fervent wish that every cup may overflow with blessings rich and eternal, and that every path may lead to peace. -- Agnes M. PharoChristmas is the one time of year when people of all religions come together to worship Jesus Christ. -- Bart Simpson
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Dirt By Amy Stewart
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This Week: Palm Beach & Kansas City
6 Feb 2010 | 10:38 amHey y'all--I'll be speaking at the Garden Club of Palm Beach on Wednesday, Feb 10 at 2:30. It's open to the public; get details here. Then I'm off to Kansas City for three big days at the Metropolitan Lawn & Garden Show! Feb. 12-14. I'm there all three days. If you're in the area, stop by. Maybe I'll see you there! -
My Health Plan
29 Jan 2010 | 5:36 pmWe take a break from our regularly-scheduled programming to discuss health insurance. There's no point rehashing what went wrong. My question is: Can we come up with one simple five-point plan and actually get it passed? Can it be simple enough to fit on a single sheet of paper?Here's mine. It's under 250 words. What's yours? All health insurance companies are required to offer the same plan. It costs $99 per month for people under 30, and $199 per month for people ages 30-65. No pre-exisiting condition restrictions, and no cancellation except for… -
"New York Azaleas"
5 Jan 2010 | 12:15 pmIn anticipation of spring--some azaleas in an urn on a Greenwich Village doorstep. I am seriously jonesing for New York--and for spring! This is a little unusual for me in that it's actually painted on a little stretched canvas, not on a panel. Makes it very easy to hang unframed if you're so inclined. 5 x 7, oil on stretched canvas. Click here to bid. And to see my other "Buy It Now" paintings on eBay, go here. -
"Green and Yellow Onions"
29 Dec 2009 | 9:40 am6 x 6 inch oil on 1/2 inch-thick panel. Click here to bid. One afternoon, when there was very pretty light coming into my living room in the late afternoon, I did a bunch of still life setups and photographed them. I'm still working my way through the photos. This is one of my favorites. It's funny how some paintings just work. I do have a few other paintings available in my "Buy It Now" section on eBay--click here to see those. -
Dolley and Bess
22 Dec 2009 | 12:11 pmHere's another painting of my hens, Dolley and Bess. I don't know if you've ever tried to get a chicken to post for a picture, but it's very hard to do. I can get them to sit still by putting out some chicken scratch for them to eat, but then the question is how to make an interesting image out of that. I thought they were very sweet with their heads together like this. This is 6 x 6 inch oil on board. Click here to bid. You can have a look at my other paintings available on eBay here. Thanks and enjoy the holidays!
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Am I Bugging You Yet?
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Lonesome Leptoglossus
29 Jan 2010 | 4:50 pmWell a lot of the buggies might be feeling lonely, that is if they cared about me at all. Of course they don't and so aren't likely to have been missing me pointing the camera in their direction. For their part, they've been laying low through the rainstorms and coldish weather of the past couple weeks. Anyway, this is a Leaf footed bug nymph (leptoglossus zonatus) on a dried up milkweed pod. -
The Sky above and the Ground beneath her feet
16 Jan 2010 | 11:24 amHere's the sunrise from my front porch. That's a chinese elm tree growing through a thicket of power and cable lines overhead.One of the sun ornaments watches with an inscrutable expression on his plastic face.This is an interesting orange fungus growing in the dropped nyjer seed and bird droppings under one of my bird feeders. The cups are pretty small, less than 1/4" across I would say.The -
I Like Senna Artemisioides
14 Jan 2010 | 10:00 pmI like feathery cassia, or senna if you will, because it blooms in mid-winter with a bloom so furiously yellow it invokes the sun even on a sunny day; the thin leaves create beautiful patterns of shadow on the house and sidewalk; bugs look really good among the silvery and interesting foliage; when you look through the plant you'll see a mysterious multi-dimensional ambiance unfold before your -
Drops
13 Jan 2010 | 8:57 pmSo it rained a bit yesterday, and though today we are enjoying a break in the weather, as the folk on TV like to call it when there isn't any newsworthy or disastrous weather to report, there were still quite a few drops hanging around on the plants (Lobelia laxiflora, calandrinia grandiflora, thunbergia, lantana, kalanchoe) and the spider webs. I hear from the TV a much bigger storm is on the -
5th Annual Winter Solstice Bug Count
22 Dec 2009 | 10:31 pmThis year I counted bugs in the yards on Dec 22, which was a slightly breezy coolish sunny day following a rainy night. Despite our mild weather conditions, the pickings were slim:INSECTS1 Glassywinged sharpshooter nymph, Homalodisca vitripennis6 colonies of Aphis nerii, Oleander aphid. These were small colonies just starting up.1 leafhopper of the black persuasion, as yet unidentified. It was
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All the Dirt on Gardening
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Lettuce Combos help gardeners get some of everything from Renee's Garden Seeds
8 Feb 2010 | 11:11 pmRenee's Garden Seeds is one of my favorites. I have high standards for germination rate and information on successful growing. If there isn't an explanation of how to grow the plants and if the seeds don't germinate, I stop ordering. No doubt you do the same thing.Another reason I enjoy using Renee's is that the website is easy to navigate and stuffed with useful information.Since I spent the afternoon transplanting lettuce seedlings, I have lettuce on the brain and explored Renee's combination packs for future planting.So, here are the combo lettuce packs they are offering this year. -
Phacelia tanacetifolia - Purple Tansy
7 Feb 2010 | 1:17 amThe Bountiful Gardens 2010 catalog lists Phacelia tanacetifolia - 1250 seeds for $2.25. Lavender flowers, forms dense carpet, helps soil hold moisture, prevents weeds between plants and rows AND attracts beneficial insects. Plus, makes good compost.Anything to attract pollinators gets my eye. I ordered the seeds this morning. Do you grow Phacelia Purple Tansy? I'm asking because the cultivation information is contradictory from site to site.Small Farm Success says it is planted widely in California vineyards. Grows quickly, one of the top 20 bee attracting plants, high quality nectar for a… -
Venidium fastuosum
5 Feb 2010 | 11:24 pmFedco Seeds listed Venidium fastuosum in their 2009 catalog. Have you heard of it? Its common name is Namaqualand Daisy or Monarch of the Veldt.The USDA Plants Profile indicates that it grows as a native only in Calfornia.Fedco says it is Daisy-like flowers close up in dreary weather, but will open in ten minutes if cut and brought indoors. Lloyd says their large center disks shine black like a healthy dog’s nose. Glorious creamy-white 4" flowers have vivid black centers. With multibranching habit and deep-cut fuzzy leaves, Venidium sprawls 2-1/2' and needs a dry sunny location to remain… -
Garden Writer Tovah Martin - author of The New Terrarium - speaking in Tulsa Feb 13 at 7 p.m. for OK Horticultural Society
4 Feb 2010 | 9:03 amTerrarium gardening is creating a small indoor garden using closed or partially closed clear containers. Their appeal is that they bring nature indoors while keeping the maintenance low. And, terrarium plants such as ferns and mosses thrive with the low light in most homes and offices.Tovah Martin, author of The New Terrarium: Creating Beautiful Displays for Plants and Nature, will demonstrate this simple art during her talk in Tulsa on Feb 13.DETAILS IF YOU WANT TO GOTovah Martin Terrariums & You – how to used recycled containers to make indoor gardensTulsa Garden Center - Saturday, Feb. -
Klehm Song Sparrow Farm and Nursery- Non Vining Clematis
2 Feb 2010 | 11:05 pmOne of the wonders of this time of year is receiving so many dreamy and exciting catalogs. Take a look at this dreamy and exciting non-vining clematis in the Klehm Song Sparrow catalog that arrived yesterday.It needs a much more glamorous name. Clematis integrifolia Rosea really doesn't make it for me.How about Clematis Pink Butterflies? Clematis Vivid Pink Origami? Don't those flowers look like origami swans? Look at these on Sparkling Sweet Origami.Iowa State Extension Service has the scoop on successful growing here.The highlights of the article are: Some non-vining clematis bloom in…
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The Dirt
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World Changing: Top Sustainability Trends of the Next Decade
4 Feb 2010 | 10:19 amWorld Changing created a list of the top sustainability trends they see occuring over the next decade: Bike usage will continue to rise across cities worldwide: “Copenhagen residents use bikes for 37 percent of all their transit. But bikes in Europe represent more than utility; riding a bicycle with the Velib’s bikeshare program in Paris now easily competes (42 million registered users) with taking a spring walk along the Seine. Bike-sharing abounds in dozens of European cities as well as in Rio de Janeiro and Santiago, Chile. Look for North American burgs to continue their… -
Vancouver Olympic Village Features 3.5-acres of Green Roof
4 Feb 2010 | 8:34 amNext month, 2,800 athletes will move into Vancouver’s Olympic Village, a $1 billion LEED Gold facility which also features more than 3.5-acres of green roofs, writes The Vancouver Sun. The roofs of more than half of the village’s 22 buildings are covered in sedum, a plant species commonly used on green roofs because of their ability to absorb heat and CO2 Peter Kreuk, International ASLA, principal at Durante-Kruek and lead landscape architect on the project, told The Vancouver Sun the sedums used for the green roofs were grown in long mats and then rolled-out like… -
Luke Jerram’s Massive Aeolian Harp
3 Feb 2010 | 2:41 pmGreen Diary highlights artist Luke Jerram’s new project “Aeolus,” which seeks to capture the sound of wind passing through a landscape. According to Green Diary, Jerram received an £225K grant from the UK’s Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPRSC) to create and tour Aeolus, an exploration of acoustics, wind, and architecture, which was inspired by a tour of desert wells in Iran that one local well-digger said sung in the wind. The artist has created a range of sculptures, installations, and live art projects, including the Plant… -
Jacob Javits Plaza Gets a Redesign with Recovery Funds
3 Feb 2010 | 12:53 pmThe federally-owned plaza in front of the Jacob K. Javits Federal Building in Lower Manhattan is about to get a new design. According to The Architect’s Newspaper, the composition created by landscape architect Martha Schwartz, ASLA, in the late 1990’s will be replaced by a new iteration from Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, working under Wank Adams Slavin Associates (WASA). This will be the fourth design in 20 years, counting the temporary landscape that was installed after Richard Serra’s “Tilted Arc” sculpture was removed. The U.S. General Services… -
AIA San Francisco’s Vertical Gardens Exhibition
3 Feb 2010 | 12:00 pmThe American Institute of Architects, San Francisco chapter (AIA San Francisco) and the Center for Architecture + Design Gallery have organized Vertical Gardens, a new exhibition which be open February 18 – April 30, 2010. AIA San Francisco writes: “The past decade has seen a greater emergence of green roofs and vertical gardens created by artists, designers, architects and urban gardeners to combat the lack of flora in the city. Buildings around the world—from the Musée du Quai Branly in Paris, to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco—have embraced green walls…
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The Whispering Crane Institute
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Super Bowl Thoughts
7 Feb 2010 | 8:01 pmSaints vs Colts No landscaping here. Well I must say it was a pretty entertaining game until the Manning interception, when the writing went onto the wall and the New Orleans Saints were to soon be the Champs of the NFL. Fun to watch, well-played and I enjoy the energy, passion and professionalism at such a high level of competition. Commercials On the other hand a big let down were the highly touted Super Bowl commercials. I am amazed that companies would spend so much money to promote their products in such a lackluster fashion. Some real yawners. The winner for me? The winner for me had to… -
Snowed In???
5 Feb 2010 | 12:34 pmSo we are supposed to get anywhere from 8″-14″ of snow by tomorrow. Will we? Up until about an hour ago I’d have said no way . . . it’s 3:00 EST, looking out the window at this moment we are getting blasted. Giant snowflakes coming almost straight down, looks like a major snow coming in. The wood box is full as possible and I just finished splitting a full container of kindling. Julie is home safe and sound from work, so let it snow. As we sit by the fire contemplating the beautiful snow fall and the hopeful arriving of Spring. Filed under: nature -
Tidbit Time
4 Feb 2010 | 12:31 pmSome odd’s and ends A new link, on the WCI Links page: Joseph Hillenmeyer is writing a really fine blog about life, work, sites, plants, and observations about the profession we both share. The difference is his perspective is from the rolling hills of Louisville, KY. It’s nice work and worth a read. Cornell update from the Birding World Ithaca, NY—It’s time to register for the next session of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s new online bird behavior course, beginning February 17. Each course session lasts five weeks. The goal of “Investigating Behavior: Courtship and… -
ANLA Management Clinic #3
2 Feb 2010 | 9:50 pmPearl Fryar and myself at his home The highlight for the last day of the Clinic is the closing keynote speaker. This year it’s Mr. Fryar and I can tell you he is excited to talk to this group of attendees. ANLA crowd is ready He has told me many times today how excited he was about the level of excitement and energy in the crowd. By walking around to a few events and seminars Pearl’s come to the realization how much we love plants and our appreciation for his level of passion and commitment for what he has done. It’s already been a fun experience and very worthwhile already. -
ANLA Mgmt Clinic Day 2
2 Feb 2010 | 5:08 pmWell for me; so far today, spending the afternoon with Pearl Fryar was the highlight. We had a chance to reconnect and talk about some of the long ago days of giving talks on the same program for events around the State of South Carolina, some fun stuff. We got a chance to watch the entire DVD of the Documentary, ‘A Man Named Pearl‘ and the crowd that came in had a great time. Dan Thurman . . . the man can juggle. More later another event to head off to that starts at 9:00 tonight! Filed under: Associations
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Skippy's Vegetable Garden
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a cool drink
8 Feb 2010 | 8:02 pmI can't imagine wading barefoot into this ice cold water! Its 25*F today. -
raised beds warm the soil
8 Feb 2010 | 5:58 amAs the snow melts, I noticed it has melted first from my raised beds while paths are still frozen. I guess raised beds do make the soil warmer! -
hawk
8 Feb 2010 | 5:04 amCan anyone help me identify this hawk?Yesterday on our walk, Skippy and I came across this hawk. He was in the bushes pulling at something. When he saw us, he flew into a tree with what looked like a pine cone and leaves. There must have been something tasty in there too. Grubs or a rodent. BTW, here's a Red-Tailed story my Mom sent me: "One Hawk Per Mile". -
super bowl martini
7 Feb 2010 | 5:37 pmGo Saints!Today's martini recipe:Chill two glasses, martini shaker and a nice bourbon. To shaker add: crushed ice, chilled bourbon, a couple drops sweet vermouth, and wave the Angostura bitters nearby. Shake well. Pour into chilled glasses with skewered Maraschino cherry and dried fruits (fig, cherry, cranberry). Add Maraschino cherry juice to sweeten taste.(This is called a bourbon martini, also a Sahara-dry Manhattan.) -
photos of my first 2010 sowing
7 Feb 2010 | 5:32 pm
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Ilona's Garden Journal
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updates for February 8
8 Feb 2010 | 8:51 amI received a note from Jessica working for the Dispatch events, and she advised me about Tracy DiSabato-Aust's appearance times: Tracy will be appearing at 1 and 3 p.m. at the garden show coming up at the end of the month. Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010 Glad that is cleared up! We awoke this morning to the world being even more frosted-ness. Frigidly cold, the tree's every branch and twig carried picots of white snow crystals against that icy blue sky that only the coldest of days can manufacture. And tomorrow more snow is predicted. Again I stepped outside briefly to capture just a couple more… -
The ongoing saga of Winter 2010
7 Feb 2010 | 7:41 amToday is a day of sunlight glancing off the pure white diamond crusted cloak of Winter's grand performance. A day of long shadows and blue tones as the sun regains dominance over the sky. The cold temperatures have frozen the moisture on the branches from yesterday and the glinting ice limns them with shining platinum. No photos for today I think- it is already very bright out there. This morning I was up early and the light of the post lamp lured me to the window to see what the world outside looked like. I could see the glow of it off the whitened drifts. Drawing close to the window,… -
...And Still It Snows
6 Feb 2010 | 8:27 amI went to bed with snowy marshmallow views outside the window and woke up to a deepening snow enrobed world of Narnia proportions. As if winter will always reign. The evergreens branches are glued to their windward sides in awkward bows to the weight of the snow, recognition of the unseen Queen of Deep Winter and her howling consort, the North Wind. Enough tortured allegory! I know I should venture out and relieve the evergreen branches of their heavy weights, but I am much too attentive to the warmth of my woodstove. I can't make myself. I did, however step tentatively outside my doors to… -
Tracy DiSabato-Aust Featured At Ohio Garden Show
1 Feb 2010 | 6:15 amOn February 27 through March 7 the 2010 Central Ohio Home & Garden Show takes place, and Tracy DiSabato-Aust is speaking at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010 according to the Dispatch page, but the press release states it is @ 1PM and 3PM. Which is it? Normally, I wouldn't try to attend on a first day, or even a Saturday because of the crowds, but I am carefully reconsidering. I missed my chance to see her last year. The hours for the show on Saturdays are 10 a.m. - 9 p.m. It might be good to note that the exhibition is closed on Monday. I was hoping to meet up with some of my… -
birthday sonnet
25 Jan 2010 | 5:11 am-to ilona -felicitations, my dear friend!may our long connection never end.may skies for you be ever blueyour garden grace forever true.your love for bushes, trees and flowers,so generous with your blogging hoursand musings from your "ivory tower"surrounded by such country loveshowered with blessings from above.closest contact with this good eartha walk in beauty, for all it's worth-beloved child of God since birth.i am posting this today, so everyone can sendtheir greetings tomorrow! (1/26/2010)did you ever think we'd get this far??love, j.
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Gardening Tips 'n' Ideas
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The Changing Garden: Practically Speaking
31 Jan 2010 | 2:12 pmWe've now been in this house for almost 7 years and a lot of growing up has happened in that time. The kids are nearing teenager-hood, we're getting grey hairs and the suitability of the garden is changing - at least our needs of it are. This is the service side, or dead-side, of the house. It's where most of our home's practicalities reside or traverse through. If you look carefully you can even see the washing still on the line! While it's served our family well since we first landscaped it, it's also had a few quirks that needed ironing out. Firstly, this part of the paving previously had… -
Growing a Beurre Bosc Pear Tree
26 Jan 2010 | 5:37 pmBeurré Bosc Pears, or Bosc Pears as they're more commonly known, are by far the best eating and most intriguing pear available. Their leathery, mottled skin often turns most people away from trying them - especially kids - but these appealing fruits hold a distinct flavour masked by their blemished packaging. The most popular varieties, Bartletts, Red Bartletts and Anjous, will continue to dominate the pear market as their "normal" shape, size and colouring appeal to the fussy consumer more readily. However, if you've never tried a Bosc pear then you really are settling for second… -
What is the Best Grass for Dogs?
25 Jan 2010 | 3:56 pmThere are two ways to look at this question; firstly from our (the gardener) point of view, and second from the dog's viewpoint. For while we may assume that what works best for us should also work best for our pets, our logic may differ from reality somewhat. So let's start by looking at what is the best grass for dogs - from a dog's opinion. Dogs love grass - almost as much as digging holes in our neatly manicured lawns. Firstly, it's a soft play area. Dogs can run on a turfed surface much more safely, and comfortably, than anything else we have to offer - even sand! Second, they love to… -
Strawberry Hearts for Valentines Day
21 Jan 2010 | 3:31 pmIf you've been reading this blog for a few years you may have remembered a post I wrote on Vegiforms, styling veggies with plastic moulds as they grow. Well...one young Aussie has taken it to the next level and is now producing strawberries shaped as hearts...that will be harvested just in time for Valentine's Day. The 22-year old engineering graduate from Melbourne has teamed up his invention with a Tasmanian strawberry farm and plans to have these out within the next 3 weeks. Could this be the ultimate gift idea for Valentines? However, in the true essence of Valentine's they will be… -
BotanicPhotos.com | Selling your garden photos online
20 Jan 2010 | 3:26 pmKathy Thomas from VADirectory.net, who also blogs about her garden here, sent me an email recently extolling the virtues of this site - BotanicPhotos.com. The site offers garden and botanical photos for sale where members can either offer their own images or purchase and download others. It's a great repository for bloggers, garden websites, authors and publishers wanting to enhance their work and will be used by magazines, greeting card manufacturers and the list goes on. While this is not a new idea, by any stretch of the imagination, it is quite novel in that it only caters for…
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www.blackpitts.co.uk
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On Wings of Sculpted Treacle
9 Feb 2010 | 4:10 amLast week I went to London for the launch of this year’s National Garden Scheme and to mark the publication of this year’s Yellow Book which was held on the South Bank.I had rather forgotten how nice the Festival Hall is.... actually, that is a slight fib, I had never realised how nice the Festival Hall is because I haven’t set foot in there since I was ten and was taken on a choir outing from school to listen to the Vienna Boys Choir (i). These were a group of boys from (as the name suggests) Vienna who dressed in sailor suits and sang sweetly. I am not sure whether that sort of thing… -
Every Thursday She Rolled In Feathers
2 Feb 2010 | 3:11 amUntil last week I had not realised how very complicated it was to choose spectacles. One wanders into the Opticians and is faced by walls covered in different frames. Black ones, gold ones, red ones, glittery ones, half moons, different designers, different shapes, different lenses, different sizes and some quite vast prices. I mooched about, and my first mistake was to start trying on glasses from the women’s section. I could see the array of efficient assistants raising their eyebrows and shaking their heads with a mixture of disbelief, sympathy and the slightly constipating look of… -
The Orthodontist Never Wore Suede
27 Jan 2010 | 6:09 amMomentous event of the week was my stepping firmly into the world of 21st Century design by beginning to learn Vectorworks. It was quite spontaneous: a bit of paper fell out of the Garden Design Journal, I rang the number and less than a week later I had written a large cheque and found myself sitting in a conference room at a golf course near Junction 13 of the M4. There were biscuits and jolly people and the excellent Tamsin Slatter. My only niggle is that lunch was chips and sandwiches which seemed quite a weird (though not unpleasant) combination. So now I’ve started and think it might… -
Signor Bruschetta and The Brutal Hordes
19 Jan 2010 | 7:18 amI have just returned from looking at a new job. It is all very exciting except for the fact that it seems to house the national collection of Leylandii. There are vast hedges of the things, stands of specimen Leylandii, teenage Leylandii lurking around corners and, in amongst the woods, young leylandii preparing to assert themselves upon the world.It is as if the previous owner only had one plant in his repertoire and whenever a gap appeared, “bosh”, another Leylandii was planted. There is also a great deal of rubble, some deserted sheds and some very high ladders stretching up into the… -
The Boy From Sea Lion
11 Jan 2010 | 7:32 amI am a bit bored of snow now: I have marvelled at is prettiness, been amused by its coldness and enjoyed its snowballiness but now I think it has rather outstayed its welcome. It has become like the dull person in the corner who has drunk too much and whose stories have lost their wit and are now just tedious. I would like a swift thaw so we can all get on with other things. I have two jolly jobs which I cannot even go and see because every distinguishing feature is lying muffled beneath the snow. Still at least we don’t live in Canada where they have feet of the bloody stuff for months on…
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Gardener to Farmer
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Grocery Gardening on KOIN Keep It Local
3 Feb 2010 | 5:53 pmCheck out my guest spot on Portland's KOIN "Keep It Local" show. Of course, I'm talking about Grocery Gardening...and I do my first cooking demo, ever! (mouse over the thumbnails to find my segment) -
Social Media for Gardeners: Podcasts, Forums and Communities
13 Jan 2010 | 4:08 pmOn Monday, I started the first of a two part series on Social Media for Gardeners. The first post includes Twitter, Facebook and blogs. Today's post was originally intended to cover podcasts, forums and communiities. Then I realized I forgot video and photo...so next Monday, I will have a third post with my favorite video and photo sites.Again, I will start this post with the disclaimer that these are not the ONLY resources out there, just the ones that I prefer. You may find that you like others better. Feel free to leave comments on each of the posts with other… -
Social Media for Gardeners: Twitter, Facebook and Blogs
11 Jan 2010 | 11:24 amFinding other gardeners online is a challenge, to say the least. Searches reveal little to no usable results and if there is a directory, I haven't found it. So today, I am posting the first of a two part series showing people how and where to find social media sites for gardeners. I will list my favorite sites by category. Please leave your suggestions in the comments section so I can expand to include others as well. Twitter: It can be a challenge to learn the culture of Twitter, let alone find gardeners (my user name is @jeanannvk). With Twitter, there is no "there" there,… -
Kale: It's a Sneaky Vegetable
5 Jan 2010 | 2:36 pmNow anyone who has listened to me espouse the virtues of growing and cooking kale, knows that I am nuts about this particular vegetable. First of all, it is insanely easy to grow...just plant the seeds in late winter and as soon as the ground warms a bit, it will take off. Unfortunately, many people aren't sure how to prepare kale. I suspect it is due to the sense that it should be cooked like a traditional "green". And while kale can be prepared this way, I think it is a very narrow way to think about it. Personally, I like to think of it as the ultimate "sneaky… -
Using Dried Herbs in Recipes
29 Dec 2009 | 12:14 pmWe are in the middle of winter. A time of year when most of us have lost our herb gardens. But, if you harvested and dried herbs from last summer, you can still benefit from their tantalizing flavors. The herb section of my new book (Grocery Gardening) shows you how to plant, prepare and preserve the most popular herbs.I like to think of fresh and dried herbs as being separate flavoring agents. Some herbs are better dried, some lose their flavor, but all change flavors. Oregano, for example, is way too strong for me when eaten fresh. It reminds me of camphor...and the last thing I want is a…
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Suite101: Plants & Bulbs Articles
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How Plants Get Nutrients
7 Feb 2010 | 4:03 pmMany people wonder how plants get the food and water they need to grow. Following is an explanation of photosynthesis, as well as tips for helping plants grow strong. -
How to Force Bulbs Indoors
6 Feb 2010 | 10:24 amForced bulbs are a great way to celebrate spring before its arrival. Learn which varieties don't need pre-chilling and what household ingredient retards leggy growth. -
Mail Order Seeds and Plants
6 Feb 2010 | 9:09 amThe pictures in seed catalogs may seem appealing in the cold days of winter, but there are a few things to keep in mind before diving in and ordering seeds. -
The Obedient Plant is a Prolific Perennial
5 Feb 2010 | 7:16 pmMany gardens are planted for spring and summer color. The Obedient Plant waits for late summer to add color as autumn approaches. -
A New Plant for the Spring Garden
5 Feb 2010 | 12:30 pmBlack and Blue Salvia attracts all the right critters. Its brilliant blue and black flower is hard to resist. It's a low maintenance plant that blooms into the fall.
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Bananas.org
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brown around the leaf
9 Feb 2010 | 7:14 amDeal all, I would like to take the opportunity to ask you a question: I have a Dwarf brazilian and a Basjoo, and they in early growing stage (see pics in the gallery). They look ok, but around the leaf there is a "frame" brown. Does that happen because I am watering too much or not enough? What can be the cause? Banana Gallery - bananas in Milan Thank you in advance Lorenzo :0517: -
hi all
9 Feb 2010 | 6:46 amJust registered I recently set some chinese yellow banana for germination-placed them in ziploc bags with promix one month ago.One seed sprouted -tiny roots with one inch long by 1/8 diameter sprout(I think)Kindly let me know 'what's the next step -
Pls id this banana plant...
9 Feb 2010 | 5:16 amHi banana gurus, Would you know what banana is this? This mystery musa is growing in my parents' garden. The tip of the tree is almost 2 storeys high, the cross-section of the fruits are angular. When ripe, it's light, dusky yellow in colour, not like the bright yellow sort one sees at supermarkets/markets. Here's the whole plant. The stone wall is about 5' tall. The fruits: Thanks! -
Question on Watering and Organic Fertilizing
9 Feb 2010 | 4:47 amI got my first banana tree, a Super Dwarf Cavendish the other day and I needed to ask how often do you water and whats the best organic fertilizer or technique to use? I don't have the best windows facing south so I had it under a lamp and then yesterday I put it in a window and it just sprung up. I need a basic guide to growing bananas. THanks. -
Banana pic from malaysia :)
9 Feb 2010 | 1:14 amactually im correctional worker.. uh all about inmate ..everday `ll goin tour of duty around 2 districts..near "reserved forest" (am i right :) ) start today i`ll snap a pic of bananas when im on duty..just for bananas.org hope bananas.org members `ll ID my bananas pic.. in malaysia this banana known as "pisang hutan"
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Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel
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Hot Tropics - Canna Do It?
9 Feb 2010 | 7:03 amColocasia in bloomPineapple sage in bloomOn a cold and dreary winter day, sitting by the fireplace sipping coffee, I was inspired to a new garden design. Hot red and yellow flames gave way to images of using tropical colors in the redesign of the butterfly garden. First of all, the butterflies use ALL of my gardens, but I've been rearranging the butterfly garden to remove pastels and pinks and surrender to hot colors. Well-behaved clumping bamboo, tall bronze fennel and a mass of fire-engine red pineapple sage will provide the backdrop for this makeover. The soil at the bottom is rich and… -
Garden Walls and Fences
7 Feb 2010 | 3:00 pmFrom the beginning, I knew that I wanted a cottage garden fence. In fact, I had the architect draw the fence on the blueprints for our home. I fell in love with two features on the front exterior of our house - the tall, stone chimney and the steep and swooping "cat slide roof" with a gable gate. These elements say cottage to me!We used stone corners for our fence to coordinate with the stone foundation and front chimney. We selected bronze aluminum fencing to match the bronze light fixtures and door hardware. The materials are very low maintenance so that the fence will last a lifetime.The… -
Don't Blame the Deer, A Rabbit Ate that Flower!
5 Feb 2010 | 7:20 amThere have been times when I have blamed the deer for eating one of my "deer resistant" perennials. After all, deer tracks around the hardy geraniums provided clear evidence. So, I moved those geraniums inside the cottage garden fence, out of reach of the deer. And, the geraniums were munched! To the ground. So, let's be fair in our accusations. Deer will munch on many wonderful garden plants, but sometimes the culprit is a rabbit. How do you tell the difference between deer damage and rabbit damage? If you are a gardener, you probably own a good pair of sharp, hand pruners to use for plant… -
Flower Recognition Software
3 Feb 2010 | 5:00 pmI have over 10,000 photographs stored on my computer. I would have more, but I decided to be ruthless and delete a few thousand. I'm sure I'll soon regret that action, so the photos are still sitting in the electronic trash can. Dumpster-diving on a computer isn't too messy.I store the photos month-by-month throughout the calendar year. After the year ends, I decide how to reorganize the photos so that I can easily find a certain flower that bloomed in.... was it May or June?Last year, I started adding keywords (tags) to my photos so that I could filter my search. For tags, I used the… -
How Do You Learn to Garden?
3 Feb 2010 | 7:25 amWhen I first started gardening in my early twenties, I learned from other people.My friends, family and neighbors showed me their beautiful flower beds and gardens. Bearded irises, daffodils, daylilies and hostas were divided and shared with me. I appreciated the knowledge and inspiration that was passed on to me. I learned to garden from other people. I felt like an expert!Then, I was introduced to gardens created in other places where I couldn't visit - a whole new realm of ideas, plants and gardening existed. Print Media Plays a Role in Learning In 1974, a family member gave me a yearly…
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North Coast Gardening
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Your Gardening Body: How to Prune Trees Without Strain or Pain
7 Feb 2010 | 2:42 pmAnne Asher, a movement specialist from The MOVE! Blog, answers questions about how professional or passionate gardeners can reduce the strain that comes from repetitive gardening tasks. Check out her new product – great for winter time – called Clear the Blear. Here’s this month’s installment: When pruning apple and other trees in January, I often tire my shoulders using the pole pruners or sawing/ pruning above my head. Have you got any tips for easing shoulder pain while pruning trees? Hi Gen, The first thing that comes to mind is that you probably are not “in tune” with… -
Pruning Miscanthus Grass: How to Cut Back Big Ornamental Grasses
27 Jan 2010 | 6:00 amReady to prune your Miscanthus Grass? This is the time of year to do it! Ornamental grasses start shedding little grass bits everywhere in January, and with every windy storm they become increasingly messy until in early March you have a bunch of grass sticks still upright and grass leaves piled up everywhere in your garden BUT on your plant! You also want to prune now because if you wait too long, the new growth will begin to emerge from the base and when you whack the old growth, you’ll also trim the new shoots, which is no good. I’ve written before about how to prune ornamental grasses… -
Disease-Resistant Roses for Damp Coastal Climates
19 Jan 2010 | 8:13 pmIt’s bare-root season, guys, and the roses are cheap and plentiful! I’ve written before about how to select a bare-root rose and about some disease-resistant rose varieties for the coastal Pacific Northwest. I wanted to follow up with some additional suggestions that our local rose expert, Cynthia Graebner of Fickle Hill Old Rose Nursery, left in the comments of one of those posts. She suggested these varieties, many of which I had never heard of, as being both gorgeous and disease-resistant in our cool coastal climate: Recommended Austin Roses (most Austins make good cut roses, she… -
Brrr! What NOT to Prune in Winter
17 Jan 2010 | 1:19 pmRight now it’s major big time pruning season here in Northern Cali. I’m cutting back hardy perennials, roses, fruit and other dormant trees and ornamental grasses. But there are a few things I’m leaving alone for the time being. A lot of my favorite plants are frost-tender and can be killed by a stern frost this time of year. For some of these plants, the old, dead foliage and stems are providing just an extra degree or two of protection for the tender new buds and shoots coming along for next year. Dormant Mexican Bush Sage or Salvia leucantha See the tender new shoots inside? The old… -
Rosy Resolutions for the New Year
8 Jan 2010 | 3:00 pmI’m honored and pleased to be able to share with you the writing of my favorite garden humorist, Dr Leda Horticulture. Regan Nursery, the finest place to buy bare root roses online, and a gorgeous full-service garden center serving the San Francisco Bay Area, has given us permission to reprint Dr Leda’s articles from their rose nursery newsletter. If you have never read her writing, you are in for a treat! Dr Leda Horticulture’s Ten Rosy Resolutions for the New Year 1. My internal clock tends to run fast (which explains why I’m writing New Year’s Resolutions in November). Every…
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High Altitude Gardening
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Common Grounds
5 Feb 2010 | 6:48 am“I try to take one day at a time, but sometimes several days attack me at once.” - Jennifer YaneAt the risk of sounding like one of those annoying co-workers you wish would get fired, may I just say: TGIF?I sit here in a stupor this morning, thrilled at the prospect of a weekend without an alarm clock. I hug my coffee cup with two grateful hands, tentatively embrace reality, and contemplate setting fire to my to-do list. It's Friday. The stuff on that list should have been done long before now.I've heard tell there are people in this world who begin their day without coffee. Legend has it… -
Wordless Wednesday: The Grateful Daisy
2 Feb 2010 | 11:00 pm* When I first started growing these hippy dippy Daisies, they reminded me of tie-dyed shirts and a cool, old band. Do you know which one? For more Wordless Wednesday participants, click here! -
HappyThankYouMorePlease
1 Feb 2010 | 6:53 pm10 days out of every year I get to be a film critic. That's because I live in the tiny town where Robert Redford holds his Sundance Film Festival. Last night I saw the 2010 Audience Award Dramatic Winner: HappyThankYouMorePlease. It's a cute movie based on the premise that it's...... Quite all right to ask for a little bit more of anything that makes you happy.Azaleas are re-blooming for the umpteenth time. Plump, pink buds ready to open as soon as the big flower's time is up.Early this morning I was anxiously awaiting the end of the coffee pot's drip, drip, drip. The signal I can begin my… -
Black Moon
31 Jan 2010 | 9:13 pmIf only this moonlight snowshoe trail...Had been in the same direction as our full Wolf Moon....Then I would have scored a picture to be seriously pleased with!* Did you know? Just as the moon pulls the tides in the oceans, it also pulls the subtle bodies of water. Tests have proven that seeds will absorb the most water at the time of the full moon - and germinate faster during this time in the lunar cycle.So, we told scary ghost stories and then we planted:Green OnionsSweet PeppersFabulous TomatersHappy Full Wolf Moon to one and all! -
And, Who Might You Be?
28 Jan 2010 | 1:50 pmKate to Florist: "Howsabout orange? What have you got for orange flowers?" Florist response: "We don't have much. People don't like orange." Outraged Kate: "Whaddyamean people don't like orange? I love orange!"[You don't fully appreciate me until you hear me fight with a florist.]Been pondering the strangeness of the blogosphere for about a month, now. This began when I saw a blog post title from Bloomingwriter that gave me the impression she was quitting her blog. (Thankfully, that is not the case.)Next came Fairegarden's thought-provoking post on what would happen to our blogs once we…
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Iona's Fort Bragg Garden
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Tuesday Books -- Which are Keepers?
9 Feb 2010 | 12:55 amIt’s that time of the year when a fresh start means reducing the clutter accumulated in the last 12 months and in the many months and years before. The sagging bookshelf and the piles of books under the tables and around the bed might be a good place to start.How do we decide what to cull and what to keep? We asked some authors and the owner of the Strand book store for advice.More HERE---------- -
The Holy Hot Tub Guy
9 Feb 2010 | 12:36 amCan someone please tell me what "resurrections" means in this context?This truck was parked in a local parking lot. The owner wasn't around so I couldn't ask him what he meant or didn't mean by the sign.What do you think?------------------------------The dictionary say it means this:Main Entry: res·ur·rec·tionPronunciation: \ˌre-zə-ˈrek-shən\Function: nounEtymology: Middle English resurreccioun, -
Ferocactus Peninsulae V. Viscainensis
9 Feb 2010 | 12:21 amFerocactus Peninsulae V. Viscainensis {1997-1998}byMartin Wong"Everything Must Go"@P·P·O·W was opened in the East Village in 1983 by Penny Pilkington and Wendy Olsoff. In 1988 the gallery moved to Soho and in 2002 P·P·O·W moved to Chelsea.More HEREThe real thing -
Upside Downy Faces
8 Feb 2010 | 10:31 amPeople photographed upside down as if they were right side up. The resulting expressions are, to say the least, weird and wonderfully bizarre! More HEREMore about Burton Stroube Studios HERE -
The Other Side of Beauty -- Rural Blight
8 Feb 2010 | 12:53 ama permanently dry-docked mess
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Ewa in the Garden
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Long winter - 40 days under snow
9 Feb 2010 | 8:39 amThis year they were right - this is long winter. We are constantly under snow for more than 40 days already and weather forcast says there is no clear end visible yet. My 70 years old mom predicts, that snow will stay at least until half of March.Picture was taken early morning, when I jumped out the house to pick up some documents from friend, that is kind enough to drive by in this tough winter conditions.I have read recently very interesting article in NYT about people who live in chilly conditions - hop over to not miss it. After moving 6 years ago from the city… -
Gardening shoes - casting
5 Feb 2010 | 4:04 amMy old gardening shoes are green, used and hmmm... little boring. Standard shoes offer in the shops is exactly the same: green and boring, so when I started gardening 6 years ago I got standard gardening shoes. Now, when I grew with my garden during the last 6 years, we are getting to different next level, so more color and more style is highly appreciated.I make casting for new ones for new season - see on the picture, I spotted them recently and don't know which one to choose... or maybe I shall look little more and find something more fancy? What do you think? -
Horse ranch trip
31 Jan 2010 | 12:02 amIn the depths of winter I finally learned, there was in me an invincible summer – this is not my quote, but I could say it this winter. Despite Albert Camus said that – great French novelist, Noble Prize winner in 1957 – I feel he borrowed it from me. This winter is the strongest winter in Poland in the last 30 years. It started early /in November/, brought lots of snow, temperatures below -22F/-30C and winds – this is something we are not used to. Despite of that let me take you today for a short trip – only 40 km/60 miles away from Warsaw – to a horse ranch and fishery hidden in… -
Night winter scene in the garden
9 Jan 2010 | 1:03 pmThis is how my garden looked 2 days ago, before it started to snow again - amount of snow at least tripled. Next pictures will come from real winter scenes. Keep warm! -
Winter hedge full of red berries spotted
3 Jan 2010 | 2:07 amYou guys know everything, so probably you can help. I just spotted in Warsaw great winterhedge. Trimmed nicely and full of red berries. Maybe you know what plant is it?
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The Manic Gardener
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Wildlife stalks the city
4 Feb 2010 | 7:08 pmI took this photograph yesterday morning, as the deer proceeded quietly along the sidewalk across the street from our house. (That's our car in the lower right, proof that this is not out in the wild woods.) The deer did... -
A New Low: cold snap in Montana
10 Dec 2009 | 11:16 amhttp://www.findlocalweather.com/weather_maps/temperature_north_america.html When I got up Tuesday, the temperature in our back room, where we’ve been sleeping since my surgery, was 39ºF, or just under 4ºC. Upstairs in the bedroom we’re not using, I hit the “on” button of an electric... -
Please welcome--my new knee.
30 Nov 2009 | 11:04 amAll right, I admit it: I have not been entirely straightforward with you. In the midst of this long hiatus, I had knee surgery. Total joint replacement, in fact, the fringe benefits for which included going to total joint replacement... -
Product give-away standards--help!
5 Nov 2009 | 2:17 pmTo start at the end... There's actually more to this story, but I'm saving some back until I get responses to this piece. So tell me what you think. Background (Personal Position Statement)Though I’m sure some of you will choke... -
Holy smokes!
27 Oct 2009 | 4:39 pmActually, it's steam, and what's steaming is the compost pile I wrote about yesterday. Now, I've often seen steam when I've dug into a compost heap, but I've never seen an undisturbed pile steaming away like a small volcano. Having...
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Your Small Kitchen Garden
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Packaging Seeds from my Small Kitchen Garden
3 Feb 2010 | 2:55 pmI laid out seeds, envelopes, and envelope labels on a table in my billiards room. While I’m giving away Blue Hubbard squash, neck pumpkin, and paste tomato seeds, I also collected seeds from butternut squash, dill weed, and several types of peppers. Most of these will go to The Dinner Garden, a charity that provides seeds to family’s starting gardens in response to economic difficulties. Two weeks ago, Your Small Kitchen Garden offered up sets of seeds to visitors who asked for them. I’ve been pleased by the response; more than 40 people have left comments requesting seed… -
Friends for a Kitchen Gardener
23 Jan 2010 | 10:08 pmWhen I first posted about these unusual tomatoes, I called them “Italian” tomatoes. Since then, other people have suggested they are “Dutch” tomatoes. I had not heard the term “paste tomato” by 2008, but I understand now that the category of paste tomatoes includes those that are mostly meat with relatively little liquid. These are paste tomatoes. What’s more they have a striking resemblance to the Andes tomato I found in an online seed catalog. My neighbor has been growing them for years. I started writing Your Small Kitchen Garden in August of 2008,… -
Sixty Rabbits from Your Small Kitchen Garden
19 Jan 2010 | 9:04 amI lack enthusiasm for weeding, so it might be hard to distinguish the food from the future compost in this photo. However, you can spot a spinach leaf in the foreground at the bottom of the frame under the rabbit’s eye; the rabbit is not eating it. This rabbit raised rabbit calves in my garden and left no evidence of munching on any of my vegetables. How does this kitchen gardener amuse himself when his small kitchen garden is rock-hard frozen solid? For a day or two each year, he attends the Pennsylvania Farm Show. This year, he spent a lot of time among the rabbits. Rabbits? -
Free Seeds from Your Small Kitchen Garden
14 Jan 2010 | 7:14 pmThis 20 pound neck pumpkin went into canning jars and so far has produced a delicious pumpkin cake. I can’t promise your neck pumpkins will grow so large, but they’ll have a chance if they are offspring of this bad boy. FREE SEEDS! Your Small Kitchen Garden blog is giving away a bunch of seeds to encourage kitchen gardeners everywhere, and to spread some fun. Do you remember that Neck Pumpkin and the Blue Hubbard squash I wrote about in November and December? Or, maybe you read about the amazing chili-pepper-shaped paste tomatoes I grew in 2009? While you’re planning your… -
Honest Scrap from Your Small Kitchen Garden
10 Jan 2010 | 10:24 pmI was surprised recently by my garden blogging friend, punkrockgardens, when she awarded Your Small Kitchen Garden an “Honest Scrap” award. More correctly, I guess, the award was for me. Recipients of the Honest Scrap award are supposed to reveal ten truths about themselves, and then extend the award to seven other bloggers. As a blogger, I tend to focus on “how-to” topics that reveal little about me personally… and almost nothing beyond my garden and my kitchen. So, this Honest Scrap award is license for me to share stuff that has no natural place in Your Small…
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jennah's garden
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The Great House Plant Census of 2010
6 Feb 2010 | 2:49 pmApparently there is a house plant census going on, which is nice because it gives me something else to think about besides the 18 or so inches of snow outside. ugh. Now I have a small house – while we have almost an acre outside, the inside is less than 1,000 square feet. It’s…cozy. We’ll go with cozy. And I have a lot of plants inside! You never realize how many until you actually go and count. All of my plants have to be in high places since I have 2 cats. I don’t want them to eat the plants and get sick and I don’t want half-eaten plants all over the… -
You can have your snow back, now.
5 Feb 2010 | 2:06 pmOh! Shocking! More snow!! One of the benefits of living in Southern Maryland (or Maryland in general) is usually that we get snow every year, but it’s not a big huge deal. We’ll get a few dustings, some flurries, and maybe one or two “big” snows with 8-10 inches. The area freaks out, schools are closed, we all go play in the snow, then a couple days later it’s 40+ degrees and it’s all over. (Ice is usually a bigger problem here because of temp fluctuations and winter rain.) In March 2009, we got over a foot of snow. In December 2009, we got about the same… -
Wordless Wednesday
3 Feb 2010 | 4:58 am#wordlesswednesday I always have at least ONE flower in bloom. Thanks, Aunt Deb! -
Snow pictures!
1 Feb 2010 | 3:27 amIt’s the first day of spring for gardeners according to my almanac (see end of post). What better time to post snow pics from the weekend? Seriously weathermen – if it’s going to snow 10 inches, tell us that. We’re totally not prepared when you say we’ll maaaaaybe get 3 or 4, if that. Thanks, guys. Here are some pics from the snow on Saturday, 1/30/2010. (PS – Please say twenty-ten.) First of all, yes I did make a snowman/pile. So let’s just get that awesomeness out of the way. (I had a scarf prepared, but he has no neck so that didn’t work.)… -
They sooo lied.
30 Jan 2010 | 2:36 pmJust a quick post with a bunch of random thoughts. Because I am currently stuck inside and there are at least 10 inches of snow outside. Driving home yesterday they said maybe, just as far south as me, we miiiight get 3 or 4 inches. Maybe. It’s been snowing (hard!) since 6AM and is supposed to continue through the night. Good job weathermen! So today I decided to go through all my seeds and start organizing things. I have few more coming (sharing with @betweenthelimes!), but mostly I have all I’ll get. I’ll buy a few standard hybrid tomatoes (Better Boy always does well) and…
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Easy Outdoor Decor Blog
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Canopy Gazebos Smart Patio Ideas for Easy Outdoor Decor - Canopy Gazebo, 12 x 12 Gazebo, 8x8 Gazebo, Aluminium Gazebo - Our Best Picks!
8 Feb 2010 | 10:11 pmGuide to Canopy Gazebos - Think of it as an inspiring, idea-filled tour of distinctive and useful outdoor room ideas! -
12 x 12 Gazebo - Smart Patio Ideas for Easy Outdoor Decor - Canopy Gazebos, Backyard Gazebo, DC America Gazebo - Our Best Picks!
8 Feb 2010 | 9:03 pmHigh style in a 12 x 12 gazebo is all about coordinating colors with a mix of outdoor amenities and eye pleasing views. -
Outdoor Patio Accessories, Patio Ideas for Easy Outdoor Decor, Cheap Gazebo, Cheap Outdoor Furniture, Outdoor Wall Decor, Resin Wicker Outdoor Furniture - Our Best Picks!
7 Feb 2010 | 10:58 pmOutdoor patio accessories that are budget-friendly too, involve more than cheap outdoor furniture. You need patio ideas that help coordinate a cheap gazebo and cheap outdoor furniture with a mix of outdoor wall decor and eye pleasing views. Outdoor decor like resin wicker outdoor furniture has redefined our concept of cheap. -
Easy Outdoor Decor Site Map, Gazebos, Outdoor Decorating Ideas
7 Feb 2010 | 10:51 pmEasy Outdoor Decor Site Map -
Outdoor Decor Blog, Outdoor Decorating, Canopy Gazebos, Cheap Outdoor Decor
7 Feb 2010 | 7:20 pmOutdoor Decor Blog keeps you up-to-date on Easy Outdoor Decor.
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The Dirt At Plangarden.com
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Snickerdoodles Recipe
30 Jan 2010 | 10:01 amRecipe for snickerdoodles modified from James Beard's American Cookery. -
New Edibles In Your Vegetable Garden for 2010 – Survey Results
25 Jan 2010 | 12:14 pmResults of our "First Attempt Veggies and Fruit for Your 2010 Vegetable Garden Survey". -
Take A Quick Survey On First Attempt Garden Edibles For 2010!
23 Jan 2010 | 10:43 amWhat have the recent arrivals of seed catalogs getting you excited about? Let us know in our survey of "First Attempt Vegetables and Fruits For 2010"! -
Ringing Out The Old, Ringing In The New – Vegetable Garden Survey Results for 2010
7 Jan 2010 | 8:55 amPlangarden conducted a poll on how vegetable gardeners fared with their gardens in 2009. The results are encouraging, despite significant challenges encountered by over a third of respondents. Most of our blog readers will "plow on" with their love of gardening in 2010 -
Celeriac Soup Recipe
12 Sep 2009 | 9:23 pmEasy, delicious celeriac soup recipe!
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Dirt du jour
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Organic Bouquets
9 Feb 2010 | 6:45 amJust a reminder that you can go organic this Valentine’s Day with Organic Bouquets. Find out what they’re all about here. whatever Treehugger.com—Ecuador declares in their constitution that plants have rights, too. -
The Knock Out rose
7 Feb 2010 | 10:55 pmI’m not one to grow super-hybrid anything…often over-bred plants wind up resembling cartoon characters of their real plant selves. But the newish ‘Knock Out’ rose called ‘Sunny’ has me tempted. The Conrad-Pyle web site says ‘Knock Out’ is the most disease resistant rose on the market. I like the way it looks old-school, plus I am a sucker for butter yellows. William Radler’s goal was to breed the maintenance out of roses. He recommends hedge trimmers in the spring, says the shrubs are self cleaning (no deadheading), drought resistant and bloom every 5 weeks. Read his story… -
Great backyard bird count
5 Feb 2010 | 8:16 amBrush off the old Sibley Guide. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology, National Audubon Society and Bird Studies Canada are asking us to count the birds in our backyard February 12-15. You can count for fifteen minutes, you can count for the entire four days, up to you. Just report what you’ve got here so that the people in charge of birds can get an idea of how many are where, what’s up with migration habits and if conservation efforts need to happen in certain places. Lots more information on their web site: The Great Backyard Bird Count. whatever TelegraphUk—Yikes, another reason to… -
Easy does it
4 Feb 2010 | 6:33 amThe All America Rose Selections has named ‘Easy Does It’ their only winner for 2010 rose of year. ‘Easy Does It’ is a floribunda, medium-sized bush with mango, peach and apricot colored flowers with a moderate-fruity scent. AARS characterizes its disease resistance as excellent. Armstrong Garden Centers also jumps in the party with a $3 off coupon. Print your coupon from the link. whatever The Baltimore Sun—Oh dear. Another celeb gets naked in the garden. This time its Catherine Zeta-Jones. -
Speaking of tool belt stuff
2 Feb 2010 | 10:02 pmLoving this tool pouch from WomensWork for a lot of reasons…not only does it hang on to your pruners for you, you got room in there for seeds, gloves, Sour Patch Kids and all with a quick release belt for when your hands are really sticky. whatever SeaCoastOnline —Spraying your roommate with a garden hose? That’s a misdemeanor assault charge.
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The Growing Edge
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Mormon Vegetable Program Helps Bolivians
9 Feb 2010 | 12:26 amWilliam and Elias Guerrero play soccer near their family's underground greenhouse in the Bolivian Altiplano. Photo credit: Jason Swensen/Deseret News Jason Swensen writes on Deseretnews.com, William Guerrero is building a reputation as a first-rate soccer player here in this remote region of the Bolivia Altiplano some 14,000 feet above sea level. This is an impoverished area. William will likely never play on an organized team. He may never own a pair of cleats. But the 12-year-old boy can dribble his well-worn ball along the hardened paths of soil outside his home like a veteran. Young… -
Denver Homeowners Must Pay $90 To Continue Curbside Composting Program This Year
8 Feb 2010 | 11:14 pmChristopher N. Osher writes in The Denver Post, A popular composting program that picks up organic waste from about 3,300 Denver homes that support environmentally friendly recycling will continue but at a cost of $88 per home this year. The city’s recycling officials launched the composting program in 2008, thanks to a state grant of $215,000 that included a composting project at Denver International Airport. Another $185,000 grant from the state that continued the residential composting program in 2009 is set to expire this year. Click HERE to read the rest of the story. -
Just Say No… To Drinking Water?
8 Feb 2010 | 11:10 pmRainfall runoff from landills — known as leachate — eventually ends up in aquifers and rivers and brings a cocktail of pharmaceutical drugs with it. Photo credit: D'Arcy Norman Flickr photostream. It is ironic, that the government and an ever decreasing amount of its supporters, get all ballistic over recreational drugs that people decide and choose to consume but shrug their shoulders over pharmaceutical drugs in everyone’s drinking water. It is just no big deal to them. Clarke Canfield writes in this Associated Press story, The federal government advises throwing most unused… -
Bad Winter For Northeast Greenhouses
8 Feb 2010 | 4:16 pmSnow is so deep that vehicles can't even reach the greenhouses. Photo credit: The Pittsburgh Channel (WTAE) Heavy snows this winter in the northeastern U.S. has damaged greenhouses in several states. Four greenhouses at Soergel Orchards and Garden Center in Franklin Park, Pa., collapsed under the weight of record snow in early February. The snow is so deep that vehicles cannot even reach the destroyed greenhouses. Click for more info on the damage. Click for a pictorial slide show of the damage to the greenhouses. Lynchburg Grows, a non-profit corporation which operates 9 greenhouses in… -
Canada To Ban Weed And Feed Fertilizers
8 Feb 2010 | 2:34 pmWhat started in some municipalities and the province of Alberta as a provincial ban on weed and feed fertilizers in 2008, has spread to the whole country of Canada. Effective at the end of 2012 all weed and feed fertilizers will be banned. Some municipalities in Canada have been moving to ban the use of weed-and-feed, but those bylaws weren’t as powerful as province-wide legislation that can actually stop people from buying the product. Now with the ban across Canada, the dangerous practice will be stopped. Click HERE for the Health Canada explanation of the ban. Top five reasons not to…
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Native Sons Plant of the Week
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Fremontodendron 'San Gabriel'
5 Feb 2010 | 9:37 amFlannel bush. San Gabriel flannel bush is a robust evergreen shrub to 20 feet tall and 40 wide. Fast growing, it will tolerate extremely dry conditions and hotter interior garden sites. It features a copious display of 2-3 inch yellow flowers from early spring to summer and a distinctive herringbone branching pattern. An excellent choice for screens and dry banks, it should be sited away from foot traffic to avoid the irritating stellate hairs common on the fuzzy olive-green leaves. Hardy to 15F. Fremontodendron 'San Gabriel' is available this week in #5 containers. -
Rosmarinus officinalis 'Mozart'
29 Jan 2010 | 2:40 pmMozart rosemary is a floriferous selection with the darkest blue flowers we have seen in a genus full of exceptional cultivars. Mounding to 3 feet high with a 6-foot spread, it will tolerate a wide range of soils and is an excellent choice for dry gardens mixed with lavander and rockrose. Hardy to 10F. Rosemary officinalis 'Mozart' is available this week in #1 containers. Full sun to partial shade. -
Convolvulus cneorum 'Snow Angel'
4 Dec 2009 | 1:16 pmA compact selection to 2 feet tall and 3 feet wide with glossy silver-white leaves. The white flowers are blushed with pink as they open through the spring and summer. A good choice for all of California, compact bush morning glory can be used in mixed borders or as a small scale ground cover. Its tight, dense habit is especially useful in narrow beds, median strips and as a foundation planting. Hardy to 25F. Convolvulus cneorum 'Snow Angel' is available this week in #5 containers. -
Carex testacea
20 Nov 2009 | 9:31 amOrange New Zealand sedge is a mounding sedge with distinctive coloring that makes it a delight in any garden, especially when combined with other grasses or broad-leafed perennials. The hair-like olive green foliage takes on a vivid tangerine-colored blush at the tips and glows brilliantly in the sunlight particularly in cold weather. Mature plants grow to 15” tall and grow best in moist, well-drained soils. This sedge tolerates sun or shade, but most gardeners agree that the foliage color is best with at least a half day of sun. In our garden this sedge has reseeded in a pleasing fashion… -
Coprosma 'Fire Burst'
16 Nov 2009 | 11:07 amCoprosma, is an evergreen shrub with stunning green, cream and pink variegated foliage. The color transforms from cream/pink tones during the summer to fire red foliage during autumn and winter. 'Fire Burst' is ideal for small hedge and general garden landscaping, growing 3-4 feet tall and 3-4 feet wide. Prune to promote bushiness. Performs best on well drained soil and in full sun to partial shade. Hardy to 20F. Coprosma 'Fire Burst' is available in #1 containers.
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A Leafy Indulgence
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Pearly Whites Just In Time
6 Feb 2010 | 4:47 pmTrying to extend the growing season by bringing it indoors, and being inspired by the Indoor Garden(er), a companion to the Paper Whites was planted just before Thanksgiving. Pearly white Hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis) bulbs were set in water, topped with green tumbled ocean glass, chilled, and brought out to be forced into an indoor winter bloom.Now, I have never grown these type of hyacinths in the past because I never liked their form. They are too rigid and artificial looking for my taste - like little plastic toilet brushes. They never seem natural in the landscape. However, they were… -
I Like Lichen
23 Jan 2010 | 1:56 pmI took a trip down to nearby Huntley Meadows Park. This is the largest county park in Fairfax County, with 1,425 acres of "majestic forests, wildflower-speckled meadows and vast wetlands for some of the best wildlife watching in the Washington metropolitan area." I wanted to review the winners of the center's annual Photography Contest, including a photo of Kingbirds entered by a bird-watcher good friend.A walk through the wooded trails and along the wetlands boardwalk yielded a surprising amount of interesting wildlife for a drab Saturday afternoon in winter. A King Rail was spotted munching… -
The Paper White Files
14 Jan 2010 | 7:23 pmIt must be time to talk about the indoor garden plants. My first Paper White Narcissus (Tazetta narcissus) were planted the day after coming home from Thanksgiving vacation last year. The bulbs were snug in their paper bags just behind the milk and soda in the refrigerator for about two weeks prior to planting. They grew slowly at first, and then just after Christmas, the blooms began. They were stunning for my New Years Open House. What timing!Since I don't like the concept of disposable plants, the bulbs were watered throughout the winter, spindly leaves and all, and planted outdoors in the… -
Fall Color For Gray Winter
5 Jan 2010 | 1:48 pmIt's the middle of winter, and there is not much to record in the way of gardening. In looking at some past photos that were not posted to the blog, a few noteworthy autumn items for the journal were found. First, there is the gooseneck loosestrife (lysimachia clethroides). The leaves this year turned a vibrant golden yellow in the fall. The color stayed around for about two weeks before fading into brown. I believe the memory has been fading too, since I do not remember this color on the loosestrife in the past two years of growing it [22.6.2008]. I can think of three reasons:In previous… -
Frank's Yearn to Urn
13 Nov 2009 | 6:07 pmIn September, a four day convention in Chicago yielded a few side trips as a tourist. A visit to Oak Park where Frank Lloyd Wright built his first house and opened his studio on his own was the first stop. A second trip downtown to the Art Institute and nearby Millenium Park was an eye-opener. Although architecture and art were the primary targets for the trips, gardens and greenery were also experienced. Since this is a garden blog, I will concentrate on the botany in my trips.These urns were outside the entrance to the Wright Studio. Potato vines and ornamental grasses (or is it millet)…
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Water Fountains and Relaxation
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Give your Space a New Look with a Wall Fountain
8 Feb 2010 | 11:11 amA wall fountain may be just what you need to give your inner spaces at home or the office a new look, better yet, a relaxation piece that will relax and bring a beautiful ambiance to any room it is placed. -
Five Affordable Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas
2 Feb 2010 | 8:51 amFind affordable gift ideas for this Valentine's Day including many stress relief and relaxation products. -
Sound Therapy System Deluxe: The Ultimate Sound Conditioner
28 Jan 2010 | 9:14 amThe latest addition to our health and wellness line of products is the Sound Oasis Advanced Sound Therapy System. It truly is the ultimate sound conditioner in the world, loaded with features and benefits! -
Large Outdoor Fountains: Where to Find Them
27 Jan 2010 | 2:03 pmLarge outdoor fountains are often a very sought after item in spring and summer all over the country. If you have a nice yard or courtyard at your business, a large outdoor fountain is the perfect accessory. -
Burn Firepits on your Deck with DeckProtect
22 Jan 2010 | 11:49 amSafely burn fire pits or chimineas on your wooden deck with the DeckProtect Fire Pit Pad.
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Tangled Branches: Cultivated
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Blogger Tech Talk
9 Feb 2010 | 7:19 am(Sorry about the long dry stretches of text here.)Almost a year ago, I started to write a post to explain why my blog doesn't have all the modern features that readers have come to expect. It proved to be difficult to write. I wanted to explain a technical issue in a non-technical way, struggled with different ideas for doing that, and then gave up.I did write a blog-history post on my 5-year anniversary back in April 2008, and that generated a lot of good comments. I was moaning about the difficulty of finding time to garden AND blog AND maintain online friendships all at the same time. That… -
A Winter to Remember
8 Feb 2010 | 3:54 amNormally, about this time of year I begin tormenting northern gardeners with pictures of snowdrops or crocuses or maybe even an early daffodil. This is not a normal year.That's my deck at Tangled Branches North yesterday morning.You may have heard about our recent snowstorm. I think it was on the news. But you may have forgotten about the similar storm we had in December. Coming so close to Christmas, I didn't write anything at the time but I did post some pictures on Picasa.That's the same table on December 20. We guesstimated that was about 20 inches of snow, but after the recent storm we… -
Winter Orchid Foliage
22 Jan 2010 | 1:12 pmCouldn't think of a catchy title.What does this look like to you? A pile of sticks? (Say yes.)But let's look more closely.There's something green and growing beneath the sticks.It's a Downy Rattlesnake Plantain orchid, or Goodyera pubescens to its botanist friends. The pile of sticks is my doing. In the fall of 2008, I found a single Goodyera pubescens in the woods. When I went back a few days later to look for it, it was gone. Deer? I don't know, but the deer are getting all the blame for any missing plants lately. So this fall, I was surprised and happy to find two plants nearby. And… -
GBBD
15 Jan 2010 | 12:51 pmGarden Bloggers' Bud Day?'Rijnveld's Early Sensation' narcissus will be blooming soon.'Jelena' witch hazel thinks it's still too cold.Garden Bloggers' Bug Day?Some type of stink bug? Found crawling on the floor this afternoon.Garden Bloggers' Bird Day?My little chickadee.Nuthatch with prized sunflower seed.Shy cardinal.Garden Bloggers' Blue Day?Sweetgum seed balls against the deep blue sky.How could I be blue with a gorgeous sky, plenty of twittering birds, and today's spring-like temperatures? No blooms for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day, that's how! But soon there will be flowers. Maybe even… -
Big Bird
30 Dec 2009 | 11:05 amWhile tethered to the computer slaving away at end-of-the-year bookkeeping, I heard the unhappy sound of a bird hitting the patio door. Must have been a big one, I thought.Bigger than I imagined. When I first laid eyes on this, my brain couldn't reconcile the songbird I expected to see with the large brown creature I actually saw.I didn't want to disturb it while it was still stunned, but I wanted a photo. And I was troubled by the sight of its extended wing and wondering how to contact a wildlife rehabilitator. I got close enough to the door to take a couple of good pictures and then...Oh…
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Blue Ridge Gardener
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What’s happening at A Few Square Feet?
26 Jan 2010 | 7:26 am// -
2010 Plans
25 Jan 2010 | 7:58 pmBlue Ridge Gardener went through two seasons of gardening with me. I am still gardening, but this website will not be following the next year. If you would like to follow the next phase of gardening, you need to go to: afewsquarefeet.com. You will find a record of my exploits with my Square Foot Garden. -
Indian Summer begins today
11 Nov 2009 | 6:10 amToday is Veteran’s Day in the USA, it is also the feast day of St. Martin of Tours on the Christian calendar. Today is also the beginning of “Indian Summer” according to the Old Farmer’s Almanac. St. Martin’s Day, November 11, is considered the beginning of Indian summer, a period of warm weather following a cold spell [...]
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Bay Area Tendrils
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A Passion for Life .. Deborah Szekely
7 Feb 2010 | 11:17 am"You have to have a passion to live long,"Rancho La Puerta owner/director Deborah Szekely (88 years young),speaking to our gathering of invited bloggers.First in a series of features on the Rancho's landscape, kitchen gardens & cooking school,as RLP enters its 70th year of commitment to healthy living, protection of the environment, & under the auspices of Fundacion La Puerta,giving back to the area's school children and the community of Tecate, Mexico.The landscape and guesthouses nestle in the foothills of Mount Kuchumaa.Majestic evergreen live oaks offer shade and shelter… -
Ninfa .. Flora and Fauna of a Protected Landscape
27 Jan 2010 | 12:57 pmNinfaConservation of a Protected Landscape Safe harbor for 132 species of birds, pure lake waters,and a Pontine marshland habitat.Ninfa's 100,000-hectare property is accorded utmost respect by the governing Roffredo Caetani Foundation& curator, Lauro Marchetti.With the dawn of the 21st century, to care for the land is a primary consideration:Ninfa's historic landscape of treasured flora and fauna is in many ways unique.Thankfully, I had planned well in advance to visit Ninfa, and it was my good fortune to meet Dirrettore Marchetti and his charming wife, Stella.The rain began,… -
Enchanting Ninfa .. the Saga Continues
24 Jan 2010 | 2:13 pmNinfa - In a few words, an enchanted landscape.A place where gardens rise up on the site of a once-prominent 8th-century town.Documentation traces Ninfa to the 1st century, when Pliny wrote of a temple constructed in homage to mythical nymphs: Nymphs known to dwell in Ninfa's pristine lake, the cold waters flowing from an alpine mountain source.In 1297 Pope Bonifaciio VIII gifted Ninfa to a relative, Pietro Caetani. Yet, by the late 1300s, warring factions overran the thriving Medieval town, leaving it in ruins.Look to The English Garden Abroad, should you wish to learn more about the… -
Radiant Respite .. Rancho La Puerta
22 Jan 2010 | 4:44 pmImprobable but true to its 70-year history, the destination spa/retreat,Rancho La Puerta evolved from an unembellished adobe hut.One day I plan to visit!To chill.. to tune out.. to leave my computer in quiet mode - a well-deserved respite for me & my machine.Rancho La Puerta engaged in organic gardening methods before the practice was popular. The nearby 6-acre organic farm, Rancho Tres Estrellas provides the fresh produce served to guests,in beautifully presented repasts to entice all the senses.Sustainability and conservation are high on the list of the Rancho's guiding… -
Garden Idyll in Italy .. Sermoneta Overlooking Ninfa
21 Jan 2010 | 11:16 amNINFAHighlights from my garden idyll in Italy appeared on Bay Area Tendrils in 2009 Villa d'Este Villa LanteHadrian's Villa& the Sacred Wood of Bomarzohowever ... to write about Ninfa is another story.With a history spanning the first century and extending to a uniquely vibrant landscape of the present day,the magical setting of Ninfa exacts a thoughtfully rendered chronicle.And so, I shall be offering glimpses of the setting and its rich history.Hotel Principe Serrone - Sermoneta, Italy (Protected by Copyscape: Alice Joyce)Sermoneta A delightfully out-of-the-way Medieval…
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Double Danger
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A Sneak Peek of What’s Going On @ Double Danger
6 Feb 2010 | 9:04 amAnybody else already get started? We have something like 9 billion tomato varieties this year, 50 million different peppers… and then a whole bunch of other stuff we probably shouldn’t be growing – since we could hardly care for the ones we had last year. But that is gardening right? Taking on too much, and griping about it the whole time… right? What do you have going on in your garden… err basement… or… greenhouse? -
Testing… 1… 2… 3
3 Feb 2010 | 5:31 pmSo this is our first post since upgrading Wordpress – and to be honest, I’m not sure how it is going to go. Do you see this?!?! Can you HEAR ME!!! HELLO!? Were back – hopefully. -
Death Isn’t Funny
5 Oct 2009 | 9:10 amI have been thinking of that day a lot. A day that no one should have to think about… but we do from time to time. The day of our own death. The day that will end our days on this earth and depending on your beliefs – begin a new life. Some will think that I am thinking these thoughts because of my upcoming 30th birthday… but that is not true. Ask me again at 32 – that seems to be the age that the males in our family pass away… so ask me again then. No, I guess I have thought about it more and more because I have been thinking about my Brother more and… -
Our First Year To Garden Eggplants
3 Oct 2009 | 9:04 amLike a girl fresh into college, this year we tried a few new things (what a great first line eh?). One of those new things – eggplant. When we moved into our first home, there were some already growing, but hell if we knew what to do with them. So we gave them away, and never really thought of them agian. Well this year we picked one up that was on “clearance” – it is always funny to talk about plants on “clearance” but still – we think we are saving the lil guys when we pick them up. Or at least that is what we tell ourselves anyhow. Any… -
Positive Pepper Picking
13 Sep 2009 | 7:43 amLong time no see… Let’s just get past it right now, it has been a while – but big damn deal right? We all get busy, we all have things come up. We did. But the garden still grows. We have mistreated it, yet it still grows. Especially the peppers, they are going crazy. We have been picking them pretty much all year, but with lots going on this past month – we saved them all and harvested all at one time. Here is a picture of our pepper harvest… No, your not seeing things, and we aren’t crazy – there are a handful of tomatoes in there too. …
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Daffodil Planter: Gardening WIth A Sense Of Humor
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The groundhog's song
2 Feb 2010 | 3:30 amPhoto: SuphermanOh, I'm Punxsutawney PhilFrom the Keystone State.Today I'll tell you all ifSpring is going to be late.To all you eager gardenersWho hounded me from my bed.Go back to your flower shows*And gardening books** instead!*This week catch the Northwest Flower & Garden Show in Seattle, February 3-7. Philadelphia hosts the world's largest indoor flower show February 28-March 7. Garden experts from around the country will be flocking to the San Francisco Flower & Garden Show in San Mateo, March 24-28. **Daffodil Planter will soon be publishing book reviews and interviews with the… -
Is it too late to ask Santa for a rain barrel?
19 Jan 2010 | 3:00 pmWe've had an inch of rain in just a few hours this morning. In a pathetic attempt to balance the wet and dry seasons I set my watering can out on the deck to catch some rain. That should do the trick. No more summer water needs at this house.The downpour reminds me that I always wanted a water feature in my garden. Do overflowing gutters count? They make a lovely trickling sound on the front walk. Looking out the window at the sheets of rain I ask, Why, oh why didn't I have the wit to buy a rain barrel? It's not like nobody warned me. Wonderful David at Montana Wildlife Gardener gave me… -
Tree Witness
26 Dec 2009 | 12:05 amPinus lambertiana (Sugar Pine)A guest post from award-winning poet, essayist, and radio presenter, Molly Fisk. Molly gardens in Nevada City, California. Her beguiling radio essays are broadcast on KVMR-FM and collected on two CDs, Using Your Turn Signal Promotes World Peace and Blow-Drying a ChickenOne of my favorite days of the year is December 26th. It's not that I don't like the 25th - I do. It's just that no matter how hard I try, Christmas will get my number one way or another. It's so loaded with meaning, memory, expectation, and effort. I find myself happily wrapping little presents… -
Gifts for Gardeners 2009: A gem of a book
22 Dec 2009 | 1:45 pmHere's an assignment for you: write up the history of humans and plants in 250 pages. Oh, and start in prehistoric times. Remember to leave lots of room for full-page botanical plates.Catherine Herbert Howell has done it, creatively mixing large themes, exciting details and copious illustrations for her successful sweep through the ages in Flora Mirabilis: How Plants Have Shaped World Knowledge, Health, Wealth and BeautyEach of the six chapters includes a timeline showing botanical discoveries and innovations, and the unexpected impact on societies. Sandwiched within the text are spotlights… -
Winter Solstice 2009
21 Dec 2009 | 12:01 amTo leave a comment, click on the word COMMENTS below
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Thai Garden Design
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Tropical Pergola Design in Thailand
8 Feb 2010 | 6:42 pmA popular alternative to the (roofed) Thai sala, the pergola has a open beam roof which looks fantastic within a backdrop of Thai tropical plants and trees. The open beam roof is often covered in polycarbon sheets or material, to keep the inside of the pergola dry during wet periods. Pornchai Garden build dozens of different shaped pergolas and salas every year. We have come across just about every type of design requirement. We often build the desired pergola or sala in 3D first, so the client can see what the finished item will look like.If you are looking for a professional landscaping… -
Thailand Resort Landscape Design
6 Feb 2010 | 8:23 pmPornchai Garden, Thailand's favourite landscaping company, have designed and created innovative garden and landscape designs in many Thai resorts. From the design of the planting scheme and treescape, to the creation and installation of attractive hardscapes, the Pornchai Garden team have vast experience in creating relaxing, enjoyable and aesthetic environments, ones that can make staying at your Thailand resort a more memorable and inviting experience. If you own a resort in Thailand, and are looking for an effective, creative, efficient and professional landscaping partner to turn… -
Justicia fragilis (ขาไก่) a.k.a Kar Gai
3 Feb 2010 | 6:17 pmPart of the large Acanthaceae family, the Justica fragilis is a popular and well employed shrub throughout tropical gardens in Thailand. Originating from the warmer parts of the Americas, the Justica fragilis is a great decorative and hardy foliage plant, which works well at the base of larger trees or used as a canvas for more colourful and distinctive feature plants.It is widely known as the 'Kar Gai' with plant specialists and enthusiasts in Thailand. -
Custom Decking and Thai Waterfall Feature
1 Feb 2010 | 9:49 pmPornchai Garden recently installed this 20x12ft pond, natural rock waterfall feature and hardwood decking (running over the top of the pond) at a house in Central Thailand. Within the garden and surrounding the waterfall, the Pornchai Team installed various rockerys, Thai ornaments and natural plants to give this house a real modern, natural, Thai style garden. If your garden in Thailand requires a redesign, contact Thailand's favourite landscaping company, Pornchai Garden. We speak both fluent English and Thai, and perform landscaping projects (large and small) throughout the entire… -
Installing a Sprinkler System in your Thai Garden
28 Jan 2010 | 8:06 pmPornchai Garden, owners of Thai Garden Design, are the experts at installing garden irrigation and sprinkler systems, suitable for Thai gardens of all shapes and sizes. The systems themselves are built to your own requirements, whether you need a large amount of ground covered, or just a few nooks and areas, and the mechanics are also bespoke, whether you need a simple manual switch system, or on an automatic timer; the team here have installed them all. A sprinkler system will also help improve garden grass, which, with regular watering, can improve in quality and revert back into softer,…
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A Gardener in Progress
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Countdown to the bird count.
9 Feb 2010 | 7:39 amI looked at my calender the other day only to realize that it's almost time to start counting. The Great Backyard Bird Count starts this Friday, February 12th. I'm hoping we find some interesting birds to count this year. I've been a little busy and unable to take many bird pictures, although we've had lots of visitors lately.I have a feeling the Juncos will outnumber all the birds again like last year. Chickadees and Nuthatches, along with Sparrows and Wrens have all been at the bird feeders. I've also noticed a new hummingbird hanging out in the Cherry tree in our front yard. I can't figure… -
3 girls and a garden show.
8 Feb 2010 | 7:41 amYesterday was our turn to visit the Northwest Flower and Garden show. My Mom, Sweet Pea and I attended the garden show together. I thought it was fun that three generations of gardeners got to enjoy the day together. Our first bit of luck came when two women handed us a ticket, and told us "it's an extra". Whoever they were it was such a generous gift and we were very appreciative.Last year I did my post on the garden show on all of the water features, since that is one of my favorite parts of a garden. This year I noticed far fewer, there were more small bubbling type fountains and one that… -
New surprises for Fertilizer Friday.
5 Feb 2010 | 7:25 amWith so much starting to pop up around here I'm finding more new growth almost everyday. I've been outside as much as I can and taking advantage of any dry days we have. I've been working on straightening out and enlarging the front bed and have cut back more perennials. Bird activity around here has been increasing and I'm wondering if some birds are already looking for places to build nests. I've had some Chickadees and Wrens checking out birdhouses, they must know Spring is early too.I found some new surprises last time I was outside, and because this time of year you have to look a little… -
Meeting Rain Gardener.
4 Feb 2010 | 12:30 pmYesterday I had the pleasure of meeting another Pacific Northwest gardener. Linda (Rain Gardener) of Gardening by Trial and Error drove all the way here (about 3 hours!) to visit the Littlest Gardener and I. We had been trying to set up this visit for many months. In fact so many months ago we started planning that the driving directions I gave her were no longer good. Unfortunately we didn't figure that out until after she got lost trying to follow the directions I had given her.I had a feeling from our interactions through blogging and emailing that conversation would be easy with her, and… -
Flowery exclamation points in the garden.
3 Feb 2010 | 7:59 amI think anyone that has gardened for some time learns how important different shapes of flowers are in the garden. Something needs to catch your attention every so often across a sea of leaves and flowers, and I find the spiky shaped flowers do that for me. Spiky shaped flowers are actually clusters of many flowers along a stem. To me they are the exclamation points in the garden, one or two here and there can really add some excitement. Too many together can be a little overwhelming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I had fun going through my pictures and instead of looking for colors of flowers…
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Veggie Gardener
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35 Awesome Garden Tools For Under $20
1 Feb 2010 | 3:00 amA few days ago I ran a post on some tips for finding inexpensive garden tools. I thought it would be a good idea to post about some awesome garden tools that are under twenty dollars. Surprisingly, if you look hard enough, you can find a good number of garden tools that won’t break your savings account.If you are starting your first garden this year, it is a good idea to get just the basic tools you need to perform gardening tasks. There is no need to purchase a shed full of tools, and spend a fortune when starting out. I always say – buy the basics that you need to get started. -
Cherokee Green – February Tomato of the Month
31 Jan 2010 | 9:06 pmThe Tomato of the Month for February is a new heirloom tomato that has just become available to the public this year, Cherokee Green. The Cherokee Green tomato was discovered by heirloom tomato expert, Craig LeHoullier. Here is what Craig says about the discovery of the Cherokee Green tomato:To discuss Cherokee Green, we have to go back to Cherokee Purple. Back in 1990, I received, unrequested, a small pack of seeds in the mail from Mr. J. D. Green of Sevierville, Tennessee. The very brief letter indicated that “knowing you are someone who appreciates good tomatoes, here are a few seeds… -
Top 10 Most Prolific Vegetables For Your Vegetable Garden
31 Jan 2010 | 2:30 amThere can be many definitions for what “prolific” means depending on the context you use. For most vegetable gardeners prolific means a plant that produces an abundance of vegetables in one season. There are many prolific vegetables you can grow in a home garden that will give you the best bang for your buck. It is difficult to beat a plant that provides a continuous stream of delicious vegetables throughout the season. Since it is the perfect time of the year to work on your garden plan, perhaps these prolific vegetables should be considered for your garden this year. Here are… -
Ricotta Stuffed Banana Peppers
29 Jan 2010 | 2:00 amIngredients1 cup ricotta cheese (8 ounces) 1 cup cream cheese, at room temperature 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese Salt and freshly ground pepper 4 large banana peppers 4 small poblano chilies Extra-virgin olive oil, for rubbingDirectionsIn a medium bowl, blend the ricotta with the cream cheese and Parmigiano-Reggiano. Season with salt and pepper.Light a grill or heat a grill pan. Using a small, sharp knife, remove the stems from the peppers and reserve. Cut around inside the peppers to detach the membranes and remove the seeds. Using a butter knife, fill the peppers with… -
Add Some Salsa To Your Vegetable Garden
28 Jan 2010 | 2:41 amI’m not sure about you, but I love fresh, homemade salsa. It is hard to beat this nutritious snack for mouth-watering flavor. There are many ways to prepare salsa, but one of the greatest advantages is it’s very simple to make, and contains no cholesterol. Just chop up a few ingredients, mix them together, let them marinade for a bit, and it’s ready to go! The most typical salsa recipes include ingredients such as tomatoes, onions, garlic, basil, cilantro, and various types of peppers. Corn, black olives, parsley, and tomatillos can also be added to salsa for a deluxe…
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Life on the Balcony
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Garden Photography Tips Gleaned From the Baker Creek Seed Catalog
9 Feb 2010 | 5:55 amI don’t know if I am the last person on the planet to see a copy of the Baker Creek seed catalog, but it I was stunned by how beautiful it is! Of course, it isn’t just a pretty face, it is chock full of unusual heirloom varieties and interesting tid bits about where the plants are from and how to grow them. But that’s for another day. Today I wanted to share some ideas for photographing your garden that I picked up from the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds catalog. Use Creative Backgrounds Baker Creek uses several different backgrounds that really make their fruits, vegetables,… -
Interview with Holly Hirshberg from The Dinner Garden
8 Feb 2010 | 5:55 amWhile you’re flipping through all those glossy seed catalogs and marking down heirloom varieties of tomatoes and zinnias, take a second to consider the people in your own neighborhood who may not have enough to eat. Did you know that just a few bucks worth of seeds could help a struggling family grow their own vegetable garden? Give a man a tomato, he eats for a day. Give him a handful of seeds… That’s the idea behind The Dinner Garden, a 501(c)(3) non-profit started by Holly Hirshberg. The Dinner Garden gives people fruit and vegetable seeds free of charge, along with… -
3 Potted Plant Problems – How to Recognize & Fix Them
5 Feb 2010 | 5:55 amI don’t know if you’ve noticed a pattern lately, but on Thursday mornings I have my Master Gardener training class, and I learn such great things that I can’t wait to share them with you all on Friday. Yesterday’s class was about soil, amendments, and fertilizers. The professor teaching the class discussed, among other things, three common signs that there is something off-balance in the potting soil the plant is growing in. The three leaves depicted above show chlorosis, leaf tip burn, and pallor. Chlorosis You know your plant is suffering from chlorosis when the… -
Root Bound Plants – Do As I Say, Not As I Do
3 Feb 2010 | 5:55 amThe photo above depicts what used to be growing in a pot at my parents’ house. Those are the roots. They have become so root bound, that they have used up virtually all the dirt in the pot. Pretty crazy, eh? This is what happens if you don’t repot your plants for 8 years! I originally planted these pots when I was in college in LA. When I moved down to Long Beach, I gave them to my mom, and they have been in my parents backyard ever since. Until today. A plant is “root bound” when its roots take up all the space in the pot, or nearly all the space. The roots are matted… -
Share Your Ideas in the February Blog Carnival!
2 Feb 2010 | 5:55 amHopefully you enjoyed the January blog carnival as much as I did, because it’s time for the February carnival! In case you missed the first LOTB carnival, and you’re not sure what a blog carnival is, it’s when one blogger requests that other bloggers publish posts on a certain topic and then the carnival host(ess) publishes a post on their blog with links to everyone’s submissions. For example, Keeper of the Home hosts a blog carnival about organic gardening. For the February Carnival, I’m seeking posts about combining two or more plants in a container. You can write about…
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Miss Rumphius' Rules
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Monday 4 | A Year of Mondays Project
8 Feb 2010 | 6:23 amVisitors. One of the reasons I chose this particular garden for this project is that I have to intentionally go there. It’s on the side of the house and really leads only from front to back. In winter, I would normally ignore it. If I had, I would have missed these wonderful calling cards. Monday 4 -
A feast of design at the Roundtable!
6 Feb 2010 | 4:31 amThere’s a new band of garden and landscape designers who are blogging together on a single subject once each month. I am really proud to be among this group of talented designers who write so passionately about gardens and their design. The idea that each of us can take a single topic and bring something individual to it speaks eloquently about the diversity of design ideas that a landscape designer brings to the table. (That pun was definitely intended!) The Garden Designers Roundtable is going to be like having a great garden design magazine delivered to your blog feed each… -
Textural Enhancement
3 Feb 2010 | 6:33 amIt snowed last night. The predicted 1″ is more like 4. I was out early enough-before the melt and legions of snow blowers-to notice that many of the background textures of the gardens in my neighborhood were much more visible with their snow cover. Structural players take center stage Structure and texture are not something I usually think about when it snows, so I was surprised by my own observation. Background masses are suddenly front and center in the landscape. Rhododendron sp. Taxus sp. Philadelphius sp. I am wondering how to take advantage of this-even as I realize… -
Monday 3 | A Year of Mondays Project
1 Feb 2010 | 5:36 amFrozen. Days of below freezing temperatures have halted the changes that were occurring during the January thaw. A partial view through the garden from the street through to the back yard. Monday 3 -
Gadgets, Gizmos and Gardens
28 Jan 2010 | 5:14 amAre our lives poised to morph again with the introduction of yet another can’t-live-without-it gadget (the iPad) that will further separate us from each other and the land we live on? How will this latest greatest thing really add to our quality of life in the way that gardens do? I can surf the web anywhere via computer or smartphone, find the closest Starbucks in a town I’ve never been to on GPS , turn on the TV without getting up, track my fitness level, text my kid, order new plants, figure out how high a hill is, and never, ever have to really interact with another living…
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allanbecker.gardenguru
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A Surprise Bargain From Amazon.com
9 Feb 2010 | 7:46 amLast autumn, I stumbled upon a book about flowerbed design that Sheila Averbuch mentioned in her blog The Stopwatch Gardener. It is tiled Fabulous Flowerbeds and was written by Gisela Keil and Jurgen Becker. When I searched for it at Amazon, I noticed that it was not stocked by them but sold through a Marketplace supplier. What was surprising was the fact that I was able to buy a used copy for one cent and a new copy for fifty cents. Yes, you read that correctly: one cent or fifty cents. The shipping, however, was $3.99. With change on a 5-dollar bill, I am now the owner of a gem of a book. -
Very Tall Ornamental Grasses
7 Feb 2010 | 8:33 pmThe tallest ornamental grasses explode like fireworks in the September sun and remain in the garden to provide plumed straw sculptures all winter long. These perennials are so awesome that they belong in any garden that is ample enough to contain them. Consider using them as dramatic living fountains in the center of island gardens or as theatrical props in the mixed flower border. Planted in compositions, together with shorter grasses, they create a spectacular feast for the eyes, especially where finer perennials cannot grow, such as in drought – prone locations. On large estates,… -
Floribunda Rose "Easy Does It"
3 Feb 2010 | 9:02 pmPhoto courtesy of Calif Sue.I visited one of my favorite growers, last autumn, to pick up a few things for fall planting. At checkout, I was handed a flier by a customer service rep. She encouraged me to study it carefully as it contained an illustrated list of new plants that would be available in spring 2010. On the drive home, a stop at a red light became an opportunity to glance at the list and I was struck by one photo. The East Does It Rose was hypnotizing. Lush petals combined with a color blend of mango-peach-apricot will surely make this plant a traffic stopper in the garden. Easy… -
Web Photos That I Like
3 Feb 2010 | 7:20 amIt is rare that I feature the work of landscape architects even though I have great admiration for their profession. As a perennial gardener, I find that most of their work lacks the color that I seek. The primary focus of their projects is the configuration of hardscape elements. Plants and ornamental shrubs appear only as design accessories and color is used sparingly. While visiting internet sites that focus on nature, I came across riveting panoramic views of gardens that caused me to stop and admire. They turned out to be photographs of the works of the landscape architecture firm of… -
Planting in Odd Numbers
2 Feb 2010 | 10:51 amImage courtesy of landscapejuice.comMany years ago, conventional wisdom held that perennials should be planted in groups of three. The reasoning behind that advice was simple: Planting one perennial would look scrawny. Planting three in a grouping would show better. That makes sense if one has a large estate with flower borders 8 feet deep by 20 feet long; such gardens can accommodate elaborate plant groupings. However, some gardeners have small urban lots that cannot hold most of the perennials on their wish list, let alone three of one kind. Other gardeners have strict budgets that barely…
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Mother Earth's Garden
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Dirt the Movie Premiering On PBS April 20th
7 Feb 2010 | 11:33 amPBS sent me a sneak peek of their upcoming premier of “Dirt The Movie.” We’re snowed in for the weekend, so we decided now was a great time to check it out. “DIRT! The Movie” travels around the world, delving into the fascinating history of the lowly substance we call dirt, and shows how its mistreatment can be disastrous to mankind. The movie’s goal is to change the way we look at dirt. Dirt is the living skin of our Earth. One little teaspoon of healthy dirt contains over a billion living organisms. Many in today’s society don’t consider how important… -
10 Recipes To Use Those Frozen Strawberries
6 Feb 2010 | 8:01 pmIf you’re like me you and you froze some wonderful strawberries last spring while they were full of flavor and in season in your garden, I have a few recipes to share with you today. I love strawberries straight from the freezer still frozen, even in the winter. Here are a few other ways to use up those delicious frozen bites. One of my favorites is a strawberry smoothie, add a little chocolate and it’s even more wonderful! Make a Frozen Strawberry Margarita to celebrate the new garden season. This Homemade Strawberry Cake is on my list to make this week. Or maybe it will be this… -
5 Fun Gardener Valentine’s Day Gift Ideas
4 Feb 2010 | 6:00 amGardener’s love plants and flowers, so picking a Valentine’s Day gift for a gardener is not to difficult. If you want to really show them you’re paying attention, here are a few gift ideas that will put a smile on your gardener’s face. Garden Bon Bons are my new favorite gardening gift ever. Little bon bons that you can plant in the ground and grow, instead of eat. How fun is that? Give a Year of Seeds for Valentine’s Day, what gardener wouldn’t love that? Gardeners love flowers, so they’re always a big hit. Make them flowers they can replant in the… -
Mountains In Bloom 2010 Garden Festival
3 Feb 2010 | 6:17 amIf you’re a gardening fan in the North Carolina area, make plans to attend this year’s Mountain In Bloom 2010 Garden Festival. If you’re out of the area, you can plan a mini vacation and head on over to the show. More than 1,000 home and garden enthusiasts attend The Bascom’s Mountains in Bloom Festival each year in the resort community of Highlands, N.C. The festival is comprised of a variety of events that benefit The Bascom. Image Mike Hunter Here’s what you can expect to see at the Mountains In Bloom 2010 Garden Festival: Garden tour and lunch – tour majestic… -
Picking Your Seed Starting Pots
1 Feb 2010 | 5:00 pmI love to get an early start on my garden by starting a few seeds indoors this time of year, but how do you know what type of seed starting pot to use to get the best results? I’m not sure it matters what type you use, what matters most is the tlc you give to your seeds and seedlings when they start growing. There are some pros and cons for the different types of seed starting pots. Plastic Pots have a huge drawback for me because they’re not bio-degradable. I never buy plastic pots to plant my seedlings in, but I do sometimes use them if I have them on hand. I do have several…
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The Garden Plot
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GMG looking for PR Interns
5 Feb 2010 | 9:12 amAre you a social media butterfly? Do you love to connect on Facebook? Addicted to Twitter? Do you read blogs and follow social media conversations?Garden Media Group is looking for a Social Media/Web Intern to boost our client's online presence, produce original video content, post to our blog, Facebook and Twitter accounts, upload news to Digg, de-li-cious, etc and keep us socially nimble.Are you a high energy, enthusiastic, self-motivated & fearless person who can bring fresh ideas and creative writing to our boutigue PR and marketing agency, you are the one for us.We're looking for… -
Adopt-a-Plant for Your Classroom
3 Feb 2010 | 7:43 amCalling all schools & youth groups! Costa Farms is teaming up with the Green Education Foundation and Lowe's to launch Adopt-a-Plant for Your classroom this week. As the official start of the Green Thumb Challenge, the largest youth gardening initiative to date, Costa Farms is calling on schools across the country to participate in this program to improve classroom air quality, a growing concern in outdated school buildings.For children, who spend an average of 30 hours per week inside school buildings, the potential hazards of poor indoor air quality are pervasive. “We want to… -
Suzi McCoy Shares Social Media Tips at Management Clinic
30 Jan 2010 | 12:44 pmI'm headed out tomorrow for the 2010 Management Clinic, presented by the American Nursery & Landscape Association. It's not a tradeshow. It's the green industry’s only educational event dedicated exclusively to managing your business.It's an awesome gathering of nearly 1,000 leaders in the lawn & Garden industry, from garden center owners to growers of America's best plants. This is where the who's who in our industry come to learn the business skills – marketing, finance, inventory control and leadership – needed to compete in today’s tough market.And that's why I'm going --… -
Cool Rhodies that you'll love!
27 Jan 2010 | 11:49 amGetting to that time of year when we all can use a little color in our lives. With crazy weather from LA to Philly, lots of you are looking through magazines and online favorite social media sites for suggestions on what's cool for landscapes and gardens this spring.Well, here are some nifty hardy rhodies from Briggs Nursery, you're gonna love! Two new rhododendrons - ‘Polarnacht’ and ‘Trocadero’ - are making waves for their exceptional color, ease of care, and garden attributes.You're gonna love the intense shades of the deep purple on the ‘Polarnacht’ variety and the great true… -
Geohumus Saves Water & Helps Earth
26 Jan 2010 | 6:33 amI like to introduce you all to one of our newest clients, Geohumus - a moisture absorbing granule made from lava rock and other organic compounds. It helps retain and deliver water directly to the plants' roots. Because of the volcanic dust, the roots are attracted to the granules and readily drink the water captured in the little holes of the rocks particles.Designed by German agri-engineers, here's what Geohumus CEO Dr. Wulf Bentlage (far left) has to say about: "Water - the most important resource for life""Although 2/3 of our world is covered with water, only a very small part of this…
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Hallelujah Herbs! Indoor Herb Gardening
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Indoor Herb Gardening
9 Feb 2010 | 8:24 amGrowing Herbs - Your Indoor Herb Garden IdeasWe believe that gardening is good for our souls, well being and certainly our stress level!A perfect way to get the taste of summer is by growing herbs indoors during the cold months. Most people don’t realize just how easy it is to have your own kitchen herb garden. It doesn’t matter if you decide to start your garden from scratch or from a handy herb garden kit, you’ll find everything you need to know here. You also can save money on your grocery bill without compromising on flavor by growing your own herbs indoors during the winter. -
Alphabetical List of Herbs
9 Feb 2010 | 8:21 amPick Your Herb Garden Plants - It's Easy!On this page, you can find a list of all herbs represented at this site: culinary herbs, healing herbs and tea herbs. Click on the links to find out more detailed information about chosen herb.• AngelicaAniseAstragalus BasilBurdock CalendulaCatnipCayenne ChivesCilantroDill EchinaceaFeverfew Garlic Chives German ChamomileLavenderLemon BalmLemon BergamotLemon GrassMilk ThistleMustardOreganoParsleyPeppermintRosemarySavorySt. John's WortSweet MarjoramThymeValerianYarrow -
Herbs and Spices
8 Feb 2010 | 9:45 amThe Difference Between Herbs and SpicesSome of you may not be aware of the actual difference between an herb and a spice. Quite often many people use the two terms interchangeably.Over time the definitions for herbs and spices have changed a bit. In the past, spices have been categorized as fragrant, aromatic plant products like cinnamon, cloves, ginger and pepper, while herbs have always been recognized as green, leafy plants like mint, rosemary and thyme.Today, according to the American Spice Trade Association, spices have become known as "any dried plant product used primarily for… -
Herb Garden
29 Jan 2010 | 10:54 amGrowing Herbs In Your GardenWhy would you want to grow herbs in your garden? Fresh herbs are awesome. I love just putting basil leaves on a tuna sandwich and in salads. For the culinary lovers herbs are something they need fresh. Herbs serve as a major source for seasoning in preparation of foods. Herbs have a wider range of use. Some are used for scents and cosmetics while others for medicinal purposes. Effective Ayurvedic herbs and Chinese healing herbs are indications of the ancient remedies. Some herbs are believed to have possessed Magical charms and many a story has been written about… -
Aphrodisiac Herbs
26 Jan 2010 | 9:59 amSex Herbs - How can natural herbs improve sex.There are a lot of factors that influence your sexual health. These include stress, depression, low energy, insomnia, hormone imbalances and alcoholism, among other things. Natural sex herbs can be helpful in treating a variety of sex issues for both men and women, offering a safe way to increase sex drive and overall well-being.Herbs for sexual enhancement and fighting impotence have become increasingly popular as natural alternatives to the pharmaceutical drugs. Sex herbs are used to improve sexual response and treat impotence in men as well as…
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Gardening With Confidence ™
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Gardening With Confidence™ Blog Has Moved
14 Jan 2010 | 5:25 pmGardening With Confidence™ Blog has moved. Goodbye wordpress.com – hello wordpress.org. Click here: Gardening With Confidence™ Blog With wordpress.org I’ll have the ability to add slideshows, videos, podcasts, and other fun plug-ins. Thank you for following my blog!!! Helen Yoest is a garden writer and coach through her business Gardening with Confidence™ Follow Helen on Twitter @HelenYoest and her facebook friend’s page, Helen Yoest or Gardening With Confidence™ Face Book Fan Page. Helen also serves on the board of advisors for the JC Raulston Arboretum Gardening With… -
Cymbidium ‘King of Orchid’
14 Jan 2010 | 3:17 pmCymbidium Culture Orchid Cymbidium In a word, Cymbidiums are stunning. With a lushness to remind us of better gardening days ahead and a flower to make the wait until spring worthwhile, Cymbidiums make the perfect plant. Inside, in the winter, Cymbidiums need moderate to bright light such as morning sun or bright, “dappled” afternoon shade preferring daytime temperatures of 65 to 82 degrees F and nighttime temperatures of 50 to 65 degrees F. Outdoors, after the danger of frost, place just inside the “drip-line” of a good shade tree or a bright covered porch. Cymbidiums… -
Garden Bloggers Buffa10 – Will I see you there?
11 Jan 2010 | 6:05 amPlans are being made for Garden Bloggers meeting in Buffalo! This going to be so much fun. Will I see you there? This will be my first Garden Bloggers meet-up. I missed the first two and I don’t want to miss this one. Nearly 40 have said they will be there so far. Check it out! Buffa10 Bloggers Meet-Up, 2010; Helen Yoest is a garden writer and coach through her business Gardening with Confidence™ Follow Helen on Twitter @HelenYoest and her facebook friend’s page, Helen Yoest or Gardening With Confidence™ Face Book Fan Page. Helen also serves on the board of advisors for… -
Sunday, January 10, 2010 Puttering in Helen’s Haven™
10 Jan 2010 | 5:55 amAs punishment to last week’s complaint of cold weather in the 40s, I was given even worse weather this week where it stayed in the 20s and 30s. It was a cold week in Helen’s Haven™. Gardening With Confidence™ was recognized as Ecosystem Gardening’s 2009 Garden of the Year. Gardening With Confidence™ was mentioned in Susan Reimer’s Garden Variety’s Blog again this month. Thank you Baltimore Sun! And Lisa Gustavson with GetInTheGarden listed her favorite wilidlife bloggers in Follow the Leaders. Thanks for mentioning Gardening With Confidence™;… -
The Amaryllis Lives on in The Garden
6 Jan 2010 | 1:32 pmDid you know amaryllis transitions nicely from your holiday display to the garden for good? Lucky for us, our zone 7 gardens suit this transition just fine. Here’s what to do: · Keep the amaryllis alive inside until after the treat of the last frost date in spring. For Raleigh, that 90 percentile magical date is April 15. · Choose a location in the garden that receives full sun with afternoon shade for a little relief from our notably, hot afternoon summer sun. · The soil should be well-drained and fertile with some phosphorus added. Bone meal or phosphorus fertilizer work fine. ·…
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Garden Therapy
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Super Sow Sunday: Umbrella Greenhouses
7 Feb 2010 | 4:45 pmOutdoors I’ve sown lettuce, radishes and peas in wine barrels. These great clear umbrellas make great pop up greenhouses! -
Vectorial Elevation Light Sculptures in Vancouver for 2010 Cultural Olympiad
6 Feb 2010 | 9:12 amMy fantastically talented husband went out last night and took some photos of Vectorial Elevation, a light sculpture installation over English Bay that runs from dusk until dawn during the 2010 Winter Olympics. The pattern of the lights changes every 8 seconds from a set of 20 searchlights located at Vanier Park and Sunset Beach. [...] -
Flora Friday: White Forsythia
5 Feb 2010 | 10:10 amJust a fragrant as the yellow Forsythia, but a much more manageable shrub – beautiful! -
Flora Friday: Witch Hazel Diane
29 Jan 2010 | 8:09 am -
What’s Your Favourite Season?
28 Jan 2010 | 8:50 amI’m pretty freaking excited that it’s so warm here and everything is growing (sorry to those who are still under snow or that terrible Cali rain). I feel all the excitement of a new gardening year ahead. But when asked about my favourite season, I wasn’t sure I could choose. Perhaps early spring is my favourite. The [...]
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Living Walls and Vertical Gardens
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Vertical Garden on Sunset Blvd
7 Feb 2010 | 6:37 amNatural Mind is moving into the neighborhood and is installing a living wall on Sunset Blvd in Silver Lake. The process has been going on for many months to install the new salon, but it looks like the salon is going to be rewarded with a stunning store front. You can see the pockets of dirt [...] Related posts:Hotspotting’s close-up of Patrick’s vertical garden DIY vertical garden Riverwall Vertical Garden -
Different types of Vertical Gardens Analyzed
5 Feb 2010 | 6:30 amTokyo Green Space came out with an interesting chart comparing different types of vertical gardens to one another. It’s easy to see a bunch of different vertical gardens and get overwhelmed, but his chart does a good job of breaking the options and features down into three categories: Corporate, Small Business and Residential with different [...] Related posts:Vertical gardens for business and fun Cheap Do It Yourself vertical gardens Massive vertical gardens and topiaries from China -
Outdoor vertical succulent garden
3 Feb 2010 | 1:08 pmJoan and William Feldman had a backyard with a little pond in LA, California. However.. it didn’t have enough green for their tastes so they wanted to spice it up a bit. The didn’t have a lot of room.. land prices being what they are.. so they needed a solution to get some green on [...] Related posts:Vertical herb garden Martha Stewart’s Vertical Garden Vertical Gardens from Green Over Grey -
Herb and Urban Garden makes the Urb Garden
2 Feb 2010 | 4:12 pmThis is the ultimate herb garden. It’s not yet in production, but was designed by Xavier Calluaud and shows lots of promise. It employs drip watering, worms and compost to provide fresh edible plants. The design is named “Urb Garden” and was designed in Australia. The Urb Garden is a vertical garden designed to encourage [...] Related posts:Vertical herb garden Gutter vertical garden for food Condo and Apartment Green Living Walls -
Container Gardening Vertically
1 Feb 2010 | 9:38 amHere’s a diy guide to container gardening – vertically. It has 35 containers growing plants.. could even be something like strawberries.. that takes up the footprint the same size as one plant. But since it grows up, this container garden uses less space. The basic idea is to use PVC piping (you don’t even have to [...] Related posts:Do it Yourself Greenwall Cheap Do It Yourself vertical gardens Do it yourself vertical garden
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Herb Garden Plants
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Herb Garden Plants – Milkwort for Snakebite
Polygala species (Polygalaceae) Description Diminutive but gorgeous little herb garden plants, milkworts are well worth the trouble involved in sourcing them, as they make a fine addition to the border of any garden; both for their size (400 to 500mm) and their impact. Milkwort forms its own little family groupings and gives a very fine showing when [...] -
Herb Garden Plants – Lungwort – The Changeling
Pulmonaria officinalis (Boraginaceae) Appearance The legacy of countless healers to posterity, the flowers of these herb garden plants change colour according to their stage of development. Originally showing itself in a pink shade, the flowers turn blue after pollination takes place. Depending on the development stage of the flower, it may be pink, lilac or blue, making [...] -
Herb Garden Plants – Lily_of_the_valley – Hearts Friend
Convallaria majalis (Liliaceae) Appearance Herb garden plants named after their tendency to thrive in deep wooded valleys, these are found in most temperate areas in many parts of the northern hemisphere. In America Convallaria montana is cultivated to produce an even finer type of bloom. Consider these when looking for lily-of-the-valley herb garden plants for inclusion in [...] -
Herb Garden Plants – Licorice the Sweet Root
Glycyrrhiza glabra (Leguminosae) Appearance: These herb garden plants have splendid dark green foliage with sprays of violet/lilac flowers. Flowering in summer the plants achieve a height of about 1.5 to 2m. The plant is grown for the roots, which are obtained from established plants from 3 to 4 years old. History: Well known in ancient Rome by the name [...] -
Herb Garden Plants – Lemon Verbena, Fragrance Divine
Herb Garden Plants – Lemon Verbena Aloysia triphylla (Lippia citriodora) Verbenaceae Appearance: One of the lesser known but truly essential herb garden plants, lemon verbena commonly grows to about 1.5 to 2m tall with a wide spread. Our 30 year old lemon verbena now dwarfs the house and needs frequent trimming. The pale green leaves make a lovely [...]
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Urban Organic Gardener
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Done With Worm Composting
8 Feb 2010 | 2:01 amI'm a worm serial killer. I can honestly say that I am done with worm composting after killing my third set of worms. This isn’t much of a surprise since they were literally crawling out of the bin a few days back. My first set of worms I killed because they were too damp. The second batch were too dry and this batch…obviously I have no clue because I keep killing them. So I’ll leave it at three pounds of dead worms and likely start more aerobic compost bins in my kitchen. I’m sure that there are some worms somewhere thanking whoever worms thank that they won’t… -
Worms Are Crawling Out Of The Worm Bin
5 Feb 2010 | 2:18 amWorms crawled out of the bin to their death. I must be making a name in the worm community and not a good one. When I checked on my latest batch of worms some of them crawled out of the bin. The ones that escaped didn’t last long and were dead under the kitchen sink. Since I started this third bin, I moved it under the kitchen sink to protect them from the light. I also noticed that some of the worms were crawling to the top of the bin, but the lid was on. Fresh bedding was added because I didn’t want to make the same mistake as before and have too moist of a bedding. The lid was… -
How Much Horse Manure To Order For The Soil?
3 Feb 2010 | 1:42 amOne of the beds that I need horse manure for. Now that I’ve gotten some advice on planning for the garden beds in my Grandmother’s backyard, I made a call to obtain some horse manure. I definitely want to add things to the soil to mineralize and amend it. One reason that I want to do this is because Brooklyn soil is known for being flat out nasty and on the border of toxic. The other reason that I want to is because I’ve seen the crap that my Grandmother has put in her soil and I wouldn’t want it anywhere near my stuff. The 60+ years of what’s been put in there… -
Help and Advice for Planning Garden Beds
1 Feb 2010 | 1:45 amTwo of the four garden beds that I plan to use at my Grandmother's. This spring season, I plan to use some of the garden beds in the backyard vegetable garden at my Grandmother’s. I got her approval and documented in the video below, but I’m sure that she’ll still have some complaints about it. There are four beds that measure approximately 4x2, 4x6 (which has a little bit of moss growing on it), 4x4 and 4x4. I’ve seen some of the stuff that my Grandmother has put in her soil, so I’d definitely like to mineralize and amend it. The plan that I had was to till it… -
My Fire Escape Garden and the Fire Code
29 Jan 2010 | 1:12 amThere is plenty of foot space on my fire escape. The complaint that I often hear about my fire escape garden is that it is a fire hazard and that I’m putting lives at risk. I do respect the fact that it is a fire escape and a means for people to evacuate the building in case of an emergency. This is something that I take seriously because on January 29, 2003, my apartment burned down. This is just one reason why I make sure that there is a clear foot path for people to walk and that the hand rails are available to use. Technically, my garden violates the fire code because I am storing…
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Ecosystem Gardening
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Blizzard Birds
7 Feb 2010 | 8:29 amWe got a lot of snow yesterday, and the birds sure were hungry! © 2010, Carole Brown. All rights reserved. Related Posts:Arizona Ecosystem Gardening ShowcaseBest of the Web 18 Birds Counts, Community Gardens, Burrowing OwlsAnd the Winner Is.....Christmas Tree Becomes Wildlife TreeMystery Hawk Baby Share and Enjoy: -
Best of the Web 18 Birds Counts, Community Gardens, Burrowing Owls
6 Feb 2010 | 7:41 amAs a blizzard pounds the mid-Atlantic states, I have 21 inches of snow, and it hasn’t let up yet, but here’s my picks for best of the web this week. Stay warm! (Note: if you want to open the link in a new tab, right click link and select open new tab/window) The Great Backyard Bird Count is just around the corner, next weekend in fact. This is a fun way to get your kids into nature and birding. So mark Friday, February 12th through Monday February 15th on your calendar now. You can choose to participate in just one day or for every day of the count. And the best part is, each… -
Arizona Ecosystem Gardening Showcase
5 Feb 2010 | 1:38 pmI don’t have many words today, mainly because I am in denial that we are getting another two feet of snow. It’s cold, gray, and dreary. So I am dreaming of warmer places. Please enjoy these Arizona Ecosystem Gardening photos: See all the gardens in the Ecosystem Gardening Showcase and warm yourself with fond dreams of spring. What are you planning for your wildlife habitat garden? © 2010, Carole Brown. All rights reserved. Related Posts:Blizzard BirdsGuest Post at Loving Nature's GardenIf you Build it, take twoMystery Hawk BabyEnglish Ivy: Most Hated Plants Share and… -
Lorax Victim of Greenwashing
4 Feb 2010 | 12:26 pmWhat’s a company with a bad reputation in environmental circles to do? How about adopting one of the most beloved icons in that movement as its own. The Lorax, we all know him, he speaks for the trees. But now, apparently he’s also speaking for clean coal. Learn all about it in this video: Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy We need more Lorax. Now the question is, Are you a Lorax? Yes, I am the Lorax who speaks for the trees, which you seem to be chopping as fast as you please. But I’m also in charge of the brown Bar-ba-loots, who… -
Are Paulownia crops the same as Monsanto GM corn?
2 Feb 2010 | 1:40 pmBy now you all must know that I have a problem with the continued planting and sale of invasive plants, which destroy native habitat and reduce wildlife biodiversity. I tend to rant a little (understatement, of course) because if we stopped the sale of these plants and stopped putting them in our gardens, we would stand a chance of being able to restore native habitat for wildlife (yes I do continue to hope). I just found the following comment in my spam folder. (Sorry Sam, I have no idea how long it was there). It came as a result of a Most Hated Plant rant about Paulownia trees, which are…
