Dear Friends...do try your hand at the Garden Haiku, and in the meantime I will attempt to follow Mr.Mcgregor's Daughter invitation to a meme she proposed in July. For me this is the time for this meme which asks for a recount of this years best and worst annuals.Of course I will tweak it a bit and add my surprises.Like the fact that I had some odd rogue salpiglossis which somehow wintered through … [Read more...] about Garden Meme- ory
memories
My Rural Garden
Or How I Got To Be Here ...it all begins somewhere.I had been gardening in the city for some years. I don't remember ever wishing to move into a country place, particularly, but my city neighborhood was deteriorating and my family size was increasing. My interest in history, and then gardening, began to branch towards homesteading. It was the seventies that developed that trend, and so by 1980 I … [Read more...] about My Rural Garden
Earliest Inkling: Garden Plants of My Childhood
I have gardened in some way or another for most of my 56+ years now, but I also came from gardening stock -at least as far back as my grandparents. I suppose that is why plants and trees often stand out in my memory from quite early.The streets I lived on were city streets, but tree-lined and shady, with parks close by. By far the majority of those city streets held sentries of maple trees in the … [Read more...] about Earliest Inkling: Garden Plants of My Childhood
Old Fashioned Things
Three Revolutionary soldiers are buried in this pioneer burial place, the Beard-Green cemetery, located within Dawes arboretum. On one old grave, whose markings were long defaced by rain and other unkindnesses, grew a lone stand of scilla hispanica. I sat on the ground to photograph it; as in olden custom there were plots that were fenced with ornate iron barriers to forgetful feet. The graves for … [Read more...] about Old Fashioned Things
My Garden Roots
Way back, ...oh, in 2005... I came across a meme that I had fun doing called the "Where I'm From" poem. It seems to have started with Fragments from Floyd, although I first ran across it @ Pratie's Place. They were all based on an original poem. Since doing the Garden Mission Statement and seeing the many inspiring ones @ Gardening With Confidence, I wondered if it would work to combine them into … [Read more...] about My Garden Roots
Shared Views
After reading Away to Garden's post on the viewscapes (viewsheds) of the Hudson Valley, some of the questions about our landscape views... such as "Perhaps you know of some to share, or some you never want to lose?" and "Are there views you treasure (or things you want to hide)? What scenery are you borrowing as part of your individual garden pictures?" made me want to sit and consider this a … [Read more...] about Shared Views
Spring Blooming
So much is blooming it is hard to keep up making notes on it all. The cherry trees, pear, and peach are all in bloom-probably the apples, too, but I didn't walk out that far to check. The crabapples are breaking into bud, the 'Snowdrift' variety has been blooming for most of this week already. Lilacs are coming into bloom, and Amelanchier canadensis is exhibiting some of the best bloom since I … [Read more...] about Spring Blooming
Garden Fairies
As a child I was enamored of the idea of fairies and spent long hours making fairy houses with intricately woven stories from my imagination to go along with them. Carol of May Dreams Gardens awakened me with her flight of fancy into "fairy names" from a fairy name generator. I already have a fairy name, "Ilona"! that's right. Discovered that trivia tidbit when I went on an exploration into the … [Read more...] about Garden Fairies
The Frugal Gardener
Stuart asked "What was your best plant bargain?" and as a frugal gardener I have had a few. It is hard to just pick one, things being relative :) Last year I picked up some lovely hydrangeas I'd been wanting... for about five dollars each, in large containers. I'm always looking over the specials and end of season offerings. The Best bargain Season I think the best haul had to be the year I … [Read more...] about The Frugal Gardener
Four O’Clocks
Emily from her Garden Living blog had a post and pictures on four o'clocks that remind her of "grandma". Hers are a cheerful hot pink color, but four o'clocks come in a mardi gras variety of colors that really brighten up the garden. I grew some a couple years ago and hoped to winter them over, they are hardy- better be as they are native the Andes (hence the name: Marvel of Peru). They are … [Read more...] about Four O’Clocks
Repostings:The Sycamore Story
Every once in awhile I repost something from the past: relive my memory with meSycamore tree in OhioI come by my love of trees genetically- my mother was an original tree hugger. Back in the sixties we lived on a tree-lined city street, the way most city avenues were at that time: large overhanging trees that shaded the asphalt and the concrete, that were hefty enough to climb, and which turned … [Read more...] about Repostings:The Sycamore Story
Siberian Iris, Hardy Elegance
Siberian irises are one of my favorite garden plants, and they hold a sentimental value as well. Growing up, we had an impressive stand of a deep purple variety that I believe was "Caesar's Brother" that old centurion of perennial gardens. Beware "Hand-Me-Down" Names For me, they were something out of the Japanese prints my father was partial to, and my mother mistakenly called them … [Read more...] about Siberian Iris, Hardy Elegance