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Ilona's Garden Journal

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wood stoves

Winter Returns and Fireside Fiasco

Ilona Erwin

Winter returned last night with a couple inches of snow and usually we take cold in stride with our Vermont Castings stove to keep us warm. But just before the cold arrived some strong winds blew in. Handyman had just recently given the stovepipe its spring time cleaning and secured some hardware cloth to the […]

wood stoves Ilona Erwin

Wood Stoves Wood Heat

Ilona Erwin

I found a great article on stoves that heat with wood– pictures of fabulous innovative stoves, history, and statistics all rolled into one big article. Heating with wood? Since I first wrote this I also put together a look at choosing and using a wood stove for your home.

wood stoves Ilona Erwin

Winterizing -Insulation

Ilona Erwin

I visited the Victorian Farmhouse and read this post on winterizing. Those were the days. Described are various methods we also used in this house in the early days- straw bales around the foundations, plastic wrapped windows, etc. No-likey any of those useful, but awkward ways to keep warm. Old houses are drafty, that is […]

insulation+ warmth+ winter Ilona Erwin

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Oh, hi there!

I was a garden blog pioneer, and began writing on this blog in 2003. Before that I had begun a garden website that has been at its own domain since 2006, Ilona's Garden.

I still love writing, gardening, and art after all these years, although travel and grandchildren have become a big part of my life, now.

Ilona Erwin: View My Blog Posts

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About The Plants

red daylilies

10 Best Perennial Plants for Anyone’s Garden

Dependable Blooms to Brighten Your Landscape Everyone wants a beautiful garden, but not everyone … [Read More...] about 10 Best Perennial Plants for Anyone’s Garden

10 Useful Gardening Tips For Spring

I gathered up some expert gardening tips from around the web, from beginners to a few unusual … [Read More...] about 10 Useful Gardening Tips For Spring

more perennials

The thrilling expectancy of Spring is in the air and what better way to feed the anticipation than to visit the Central Ohio Home and Garden Show which opens this Saturday, February 28th? I am so excited to go this year. You have time to hop on over to a Home Depot store and get […]

flowering almond

Witch Hazel ushers in Spring On the whole, deciduous, flowering shrubs get short shrift in modern gardens. We know about lilacs and weigelas, perhaps, but are often discouraged from planting them given “lack of seasonal interest” as the rationalization for such advice. It is true that some of them shine only when in bloom. Flowering […]

Start Spring with a Big Pop of Color   Though the usual sequence is to plant the bulbs in the fall for bloom in the spring, some growers cheat the system by chilling those sold for spring bloom. This is necessary for Southern gardens which don’t get the required cold temperatures. Presented here are some […]

Garden advice

It is increasingly the Holy Grail of garden designs: making a landscape low maintenance. For many reasons, reducing the work load of our outdoor spaces has become a priority. We are busy with many activities We are aging Viewing flowers rather than weeding flowerbeds is preferable That is not the definitive list, by any means, […]

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