gardening — Page 17

A Stroll with Scout (and me)

September 28, 2012 at 7:00 am by Claudia

Would you like to take a walk with Scout and me? It won’t be taxing. Just a quick trip around the property. It’s a lovely day and the sun is shining. (At least on Thursday when I took these photos! Friday’s forecast is rain.)

The hydrangeas, zinnias, pokeweed and sedum are really hanging in there. That second photo is of my cosmos. I planted all sorts of cosmos seeds and only one came up and it’s just now blooming! Such a nice autumn surprise! (Note to zinnias, sunflowers, bean vines and cosmos: I promise to plant you earlier next year.)

As Scout is well over 13 now, we find these walks around the yard are the best thing for her – not too taxing but full of scents and sights and a sense of adventure. We try to do this with her every day. We’re lucky that we have almost 2 acres here for her to explore. We stay out of our woods, though. Too many ticks for both humans and dogs.

I had 4 inches chopped off of my too-long hair yesterday. Feels so much better.

It’s my dad’s 89th birthday today. Happy Birthday, Dad!

Don’t forget that I have two giveaways going on. One is for a copy of The Unfinished Garden from my book review earlier this week and the other for velvet pumpkins from LoveFeast Table. The book giveaway ends tonight. The other giveaway ends on Saturday evening. Just scroll down and you’ll see the posts.

I’ll be back later at 8:00 EST with A Favorite Thing. Please join me!

Happy Friday.

A Chicken Wire Fence Garden

August 29, 2012 at 10:07 am by Claudia

I have two posts up today. Scroll down for my book review – it’s a great book and I’m giving away a copy.

Earlier this summer, I decided to add a narrow bed in front of the dog corral. Those of you who are long-time readers know that the dog corral is made out of chicken wire fencing. It does its job, but let’s face it, it’s none too attractive. I thought adding a few plants grown from seed might add a bit of beauty to an otherwise blah area. I got this idea late in the spring, so my plants have begun to bloom only in the last few weeks. Sort of nice, this late-blooming garden.

I planted zinnia and sunflower seeds. If you read this post, you’ll remember that, instead of sunflowers, I was getting zinnias and hyacinth bean vines. Go figure.

Here is my funky little plot. You know what? It does disguise that chicken wire rather nicely.

Aren’t zinnias amazing? Big white petals, with little yellow flowers in the center.

Brenda, these are for you. I know you miss seeing your zinnias.

Each one is unique.

But wait, what do I see?

That’s no zinnia. That, my friends, is sunflower! And darned if there aren’t two of them.

We’re so excited! We’re finally going to have some sunflowers. Don keeps checking on them every day.

Thank you to everyone who keeps checking in on me. We’re doing as well as can be expected. Scout is having a very hard time, so we are spoiling her and doing everything we can to help cope with this change. I can be fine for several hours and then lose it, like I did last night. The minute I hit the pillow I started crying. It’s hard for me to drive by the animal hospital and, since it’s on the road into town, I have to. I just look away. We’re okay, though.

A reminder about Saturday’s new meme/party: A Favorite Thing. This whole idea grew out of this post, where I shared my great-grandmother’s syrup jug. That led me to ponder the idea of a weekly party where we all can share a favorite thing. It could be an antique, a vintage find, a favorite piece of furniture, a garden, an appliance, a book, a film, a CD, a tree, a place, a car- you name it. It just has to be a true favorite thing. That’s all. This will be a weekly party, taking place on Saturday. But I will put up the post on Friday night, with the links available, so that you have extra time to post if your weekend is particularly busy.

I think it will be lots of fun and goodness knows, we can all use some fun.

Happy Wednesday.

P.S. The Etsy shop is open again!

Why I Love Having a Perennial Garden

May 22, 2012 at 10:05 am by Claudia

This is our second day of rain. Much needed, so I’m not complaining, however I really can’t do any work in the garden. But I can share some thoughts on perennial gardening.

The California Poppy has really taken off this year.

Though I plant a few annuals – mostly in pots on the porch – I really concentrate on perennials. Annuals are great fillers, especially when you are first establishing a garden, but perennials are with you for the long haul.

When we first moved here, the big garden bed, and it’s really big, was pretty bare. It had been established, but very few things had been planted. There was a hosta or two, some sedum “Autumn Joy”, daffodils and a bush. In addition, there were two peony bushes down by the road, a wiegela near the shed, and a lone yellow tulip by the porch. And lots and lots of trees. Since we moved in at the end of August, I decided to hold off on the garden until the following year. The only thing we added that first year was a new garden bed in front of the porch where we planted 4 boxwoods.

Slowly but surely that next spring, I started to add perennials to the garden bed. As you know, I am on a very limited budget ( I think it was a bit less limited in those days, but nevertheless, limited.) I had to be selective about what I added. Some plants took, others did not. I had to learn about our soil, amend it, do lots of research and be willing to experiment.

Since I was on a budget, I added only a small amount of plants each year, starting in the spring of 2006. Patience was my watchword. You need patience when you are establishing a perennial garden because it takes a while for the plants to take off. No instant gardens for me. No landscape designer filling in my garden beds in the blink of an eye. No, I wanted to design my beds. Slow and steady wins the race.

Now, in the spring of 2012, I am bowled over by how big and full all of the plants are. I’m amazed at the poppy, for example, a plant I haven’t seen bloom in its full glory for 4 years. Wow. It’s huge. It has lots and lots of buds that will soon burst forth in a gorgeous shade of reddish orange. I planted it at least 4 years ago. It took time to reach this size. The catmints are unbelievably full and gorgeous. The bee balm multiplies every year. As do the coneflowers. And the David phlox. The ground covers spread a bit more each year.

And they all come back. That’s what perennials do. They come back, year after year. They hunker down in your soil, spread their roots, and decide to make a return visit every year. Each new spring, I am filled with awe at the miracle of rebirth. My plants have become my children. Truly. Just as you watch your children grow, the same holds true for your perennial garden. It doesn’t sprout up overnight. Good food, nourishment, water and lots of love help to build a healthy, long-term garden.

Annuals are temporary. They’re perfect for my porch pots (impatiens) and window boxes. They nicely fill in my barrels. My hanging plants are annuals. But the garden beds are filled with perennials.

Since that first summer in 2006, I have added two more beds. I expanded the bed in front of the house (where the boxwoods are) and added a hyacinth, russian sage and a rose bush. The next bed is just around the corner of the porch and it has my (now huge) hydrangea, two rose bushes, a spirea and some coneflowers. The most recent addition was put in last year – another bed that expands upon the hydrangea bed. It’s a bit bare – I will add more plants as time and budget allow. But remember, patience is a virtue in perennial gardening. It’s about the process. You have to be willing to wait as your garden evolves.

The area around the porch that you see in the above photo was completely bare when we moved in. Just grass. Now, I have a flourishing cottage garden that adds to the charm of this old house.

And, oh my, it was worth the wait.

A Stroll with Scout (and me)

A Chicken Wire Fence Garden

Why I Love Having a Perennial Garden

Lambs Like to Party

A Note

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