I love introducing new gardeners to a great nursery they’ve never heard of, even better when they make the trek and later tell me how impressed they were — usually with tales of many plants bought. Such is the case with Secret Garden Growers, its name is apropos. (more…)
Flower or seed head: debating which I like more. As you can see, it’s a tough choice. Right now I’ve got Cirsium occidentale planted next to Echium wildpretii, a happy accident, aka a place where I could still see dirt.
I’ve got a feeling both plants will have seeded to their hearts’ content, so come next year, look out. It’s amazing how jam-packed the Sea of Juniper has gotten already. It seemed so well behaved when I started.
Last week Patricia mentioned her foray into tomato growing. Since she’d previously asked about my “candy tomatoes” — a reference to the fact everyone was eating them like candy at the open garden last August — I thought I’d share what I’m growing this year.
Get your Sputnik on here. Pronounced: Miss-SHOW-ee-a. Hah, I’ve been saying it wrong all this time. It pays to do a little research–which in fairness, I do. Constantly. But with a catalog of some 34,000 plant and growing, it hard to keep an eye on everything. Of course, we are now getting terrific help from Grace of Gardening with Grace, and Evan Bean of The Practical Geek. These kids know their stuff, and plant lust is the better for it.
I’m switching things up today and sharing my Wednesday Vignette (a blogger’s meme hosted by Anna at Flutter & Hum) image here, rather than over on my personal blog, danger garden. Why? It’s Garden Blogger’s Bloomday — the day to share images of what’s blooming in your garden — so I’m posting my flower photos over there. (more…)
I love a challenge, especially when combined with bargain hunting. Last week, gardening pal Alan posted on Facebook asking if anyone knew a good source for metalwork to use in the garden. Say no more.
Well designed gardens are known for their sweeps and swaths of the same plant. Onesies are frowned upon — plant in groups of threes, or better yet five or even seven. But how can I possibly have room for all the cool plants if I do it that way? Thus I’ve resigned myself to having a “collectors garden” — not that there’s anything wrong with that — but it’s a label that (I’m being honest here) left me feeling a little “less than.” Like my garden was nice, but with an asterisk. (more…)
Do you ever play that game? I hope so, that I’m not just some nutty outlier. I’m going to guess you do, at least once in a while. Though I stand ready and willing to be corrected.
Sometimes to make the game more manageable, I try narrowing to just one genus. That doesn’t really work either, but it’s fun to try, like imagining what to do with a winning lottery ticket. Look out neighbors: your yards are getting resprayed.
Out and about with a friend one day she asked if I’d mind stopping to pick up a pair of boots she had repaired, “of course not!”…and that’s how I discovered JD’s Shoe Repair. (more…)
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