Garden Journal

This house we’re visiting has a plethora of bird feeders, and for the last two hours, I’ve been sitting and working on a shaded porch, watching the birds go nuts, listening to their songs. I can’t name them all, but there are blue one and bright yellow ones and red-headed ones along with lots of […]

I had originally planted roses here, when we first moved in, but they struggled for lack of sun — bad planning on my part! I moved the roses and put in dwarf hydrangeas (shouldn’t get more than 2-3 feet around), alternating with the boxwood (which I’m planning to prune into somewhat neater round balls). Love

I was actually in the middle of a phone conference when I noticed these weird neon chartreuse *things* in my plant pot, and for a moment, I thought the children had stuck outdoor chalk in there, but no — they’re mushrooms. It’s been very humid and warm here, which I suspect are prime mushroom-growing conditions.

I love how many people walk down our street; it just makes me happy, saying hello two dozen times on a Saturday morning while I do half an hour of weeding and deadheading. One person asked if she could pet my dog (Ellie was leashed in the yard, because she likes to watch the world

First dahlia — this is an early one, as you can tell by my summer sandals. Usually they show up a bit later in the year. But welcome, welcome.

This is a small garden issue, but I don’t know how to handle it. So I’ve been planting in the hellstrip, and it’s bothering me that even though a couple times a year I mulch and neaten the edge, it quickly gets messy again, as you can see in the first photo. I mean, mess

The only problem with planting prairie natives is that they’re *so* hardy and happy in this environment that they have a tendency to get huge / spread, and then crowd out the other plants. This is Culver’s Root / Veronicastrum virginicum, and I quite like it, esp. the pale purple variety, but if I’m not

White Flower Farm offers a ‘perfumed garden’ collection of unnamed Oriental lilies, $29 for a dozen lilies. I split them up, six in one spot and six in another, and even though the bunnies ate fully half of them, the ones that survived are just splendid, lending drama in an array of pink-white tones. Really

Finished a little early, my 45th birthday present from Kevin and Jed, a back patio and new seating! It’s nice that it’s done early, so it can be used during the upcoming party on the 23rd. 🙂 We had this area by the garage that had been originally intended sort of vaguely as a shady

Hm. I didn’t *plan* for the dragon’s blood sedum to be growing through the creeping charlie like that, but I have to say, it’s a perfectly fine effect. If they’re happy, I’m happy. Achillea / yarrow, with hosta and allium summer beauty behind, both still opening. I haven’t grown achillea before, because I’ve mostly seen