For years I walked away from the section in the garden center where they were selling dahlia tubers. Yes, the flowers looked pretty. The colors were varied and the tubers seemed easy to plant. But, I shied away from having to dig the tubers up each fall if I wanted to continue to grow the flowers. It seemed like so much work. I didn’t have any place to store themRead More →
Snow is falling. The wind is blowing outside. And the temperature is cold enough to freeze the water in your dog’s bowl. It’s too miserable to be outside. Now is the perfect time to curl up with an inspiring book. A great garden book can inspire you in so many ways. It can help you get started learning a new skill. Or motivate you to add in new garden features.Read More →
If you’re growing a cutting garden, then consider preserving some of your flowers to use later for crafts and home decor. One easy way to preserve your floral bounty is by drying the flowers. Learn how to dry flowers with these simple ideas. Over the years, many people have replaced dried flowers with faux stems. Faux flowers are lovely and so lifelike these days. Because of this, many people thinkRead More →
Flower bouquets for the rest of us. Simple steps that anyone can follow to create a pretty bouquet in no time. I enjoy growing flowers and creating bouquets for myself and to give away. When I first started creating bouquets, my fledgling efforts looked like “child’s play”. Basically, I just stuck flowers in the vase with no thought of how to place them. As I continued to grow flowers, IRead More →
As I look around my yard and garden, there are flowers growing in numerous pots and containers. Most have a consistent look to them…terracotta is one of my favorite style containers. I also have a lot of vintage containers in my garden. Usually, when I need a new container I can head to the local garden center or hit the yard sales and thrift stores. But this year, that’s notRead More →
This time of year, hydrangea flowers are abundant in my garden. It was not always this way. My husband had some sort of bias against them. He would refer to the hydrangeas as a funeral flower. Whenever I suggested we plant one, he was firmly against it. But one day, I found a white hydrangea on the clearance table and couldn’t resist it. I planted it in an out-of-the-way areaRead More →
The weather has turned cool. An October chill is in the air. You might think that it’s time to put away the garden tools for the season. But fall is actually a perfect time to garden. When the first frost hits, many gardeners throw in the seasonal towel. But as long as you don’t have a hard killing frost, you can still get mileage from your garden. There are aRead More →
Two years ago, a “freak” summer storm rumbled through our neighborhood. The winds were blowing hard, lightning was fast and furious and rain was pelting down. Then one of our incense cedars came crashing down. I was standing on our deck at the time and almost in slow motion I watched in horror as the tree toppled over. This massive 30 foot tree fell into our neighbor’s yard with anRead More →
This time of year we’re working hard in our gardens and imagining the wonderful show to come. But there is one show that’s already in bloom and I encourage you to take some time to enjoy it. Wherever you live you can find some spring wildflowers in bloom. Try these 6 tips for enjoying spring wildflowers. You might need to take a drive to get to an open area whereRead More →
If you haven’t planted your garden containers yet, it’s time to get planting. Now that the weather has warmed up a bit, most gardeners are in full spring mode. Hopefully, your yard and garden are starting to take shape. You’ve cleaned up the winter debris and you’ve been preparing your flower and vegetable beds. But the quickest way to some spring color in the garden is planting flowers in pots.Read More →