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Ilona's Garden Journal

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December

‘Tis the Season to be Jolly

Ilona Erwin

Christmas Mantle 2025

I feel pretty jolly, over all. Not because everything is going smoothly, but because there is an inherent joy within the Christmas season for me. The only explanation is the spiritual significance and infusion of the holiday. The days are holy! It does add to the overall atmosphere of joy and peace that the lights, […]

Christmas+ December Ilona Erwin

Gingerbread Houses

Ilona Erwin

Gingerbread Houses in the Franklin Park Conservatory. Christmas season contained a display of Gingerbread houses.   Be sure to see Gardens in Ohio and A Botanical Wedding.

December+ Places Ilona Erwin

Snow plus camera= pictures

Ilona Erwin

If you want to know what Arborvitae bushes grow up to be: trees! As snow flurries swirled I snapped a closeup picture of my tree. In my old[er] age I like to stay inside and look through the window. This is a scene I took while inside while snow blew briskly outside. That is why […]

2008+ December+ Garden photos+ snow+ winter Ilona Erwin

December Slow Down

Ilona Erwin

This blog will have a seasonal slowdown. I might post some photos or poems and quotes, but until after the holidays there won’t be any full size posts or regular blogging here. There are daily posts @ the Advent blog and that is more writing than I really should attempt at this time of year. […]

2008+ December Ilona Erwin

Dreaming of a White Christmas

Ilona Erwin

Dream no more: it’s here! Deep drifting mounds of fluffy white snow. the kind that is soft and packable and holds the large crystal shapes in fragile sparkly points… just visible long enough to astound you with their beauty before they melt away. I couldn’t help it- I had to go out into the hot […]

December+ winter Ilona Erwin

White or Green?

Ilona Erwin

It is Ohio, so it’s any ones guess. For now, we have good gardening weather, if only the Holiday preparations allowed any time for it. I did manage to continue sprucing up the yard a bit and the kids prevailed upon the husband for the Christmas lights outdoors. Mostly they put them up themselves ( […]

December+ 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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