Garden Archives - Page 2 of 20

FRIDAY FLOWERS: DIG DELVE MAGAZINE

By Libby|2019-05-16T20:33:35-04:00May 16, 2019|Friday Flowers, Garden, Travel|

Each week I await the arrival of the on-line garden magazine,
DIG DELVE

For all you gardeners out there, and all the garden geeks:

If you don’t know it, let me introduce you!
Such totally fabulous, gorgeous photography. Each week is just one subject and each week reveals beautiful images.
It is an on-line magazine written by award winning landscape and garden designer, Dan Pearson and additional writing and photography from his partner, Huw Morgan.

Last week was all about tulips.

So many, many new ideas for my tulips! He lists ten different types of tulips planted this year, with delicious, gorgeous pictures. I’ve already made note of those I will be ordering.

Today, by coincidence , I was reading my Gardens Illustrated which had just arrived and saw an article about The Delos Garden at Sissinghurst and Dan Pearson’s task to give the garden a new lease on life.
Here is the article from Dig Delve: scroll to the end to see mention of the redevelopment of the Delos garden. Having been to Sissinghurst before these developments, I am now dying to go again!

Hope you will take a look at Dig Delve and subscribe […]

FRIDAY FLOWERS: THE TULIPS

By Libby|2019-05-02T20:44:37-04:00May 2, 2019|8 McDowell, Color, Friday Flowers, Garden|

Tulips
My very favorite flower.

Princess Irene

This was not my best year for tulips. I think the warm winter didn’t allow them time to fully develop: some of them came up quickly, were short and stumpy, or had flower heads that were much too heavy and large for the stem. Not sure.
However, yes, I did get some really nice shots of those that flowered and put on quite a show!

The next four shots are
Tulip Blumex Favorite from Wayside Gardens

Ok, I have to admit, they were pretty stunning! And mixed in there is the
Triumph Princess Irene from Terra Ceia.

These next three pictures are
Sensual Touch from Burpee

These bloomed very late, well after all the others, and were definitely stunted in growth. Short stems with bulbous flower heads….not quite what I had been expecting! But yes, they make great photo subjects.

Here are some […]

FRIDAY FLOWERS: APRIL GARDEN CHORES

By Libby|2019-04-18T19:51:30-04:00April 18, 2019|8 McDowell, Friday Flowers, Garden|

Lots of small jobs around the garden this week: time to update the pots!

Looking great! But that was a month ago and now the pansies are brown and almost gone.

I had won (at a garden club dinner!) these two planters years ago and love them. For years they were sort of planter orphans: no home in the garden seemed right for them. But now they sit in the front entryway and are perfect. The pansies do well all winter: when it’s cold and icy the flowers shrivel up but give them a day of sun and some warmer temps and they flourish!

But, given that this is the hot Western side of our house, I have to be careful in summer. So this year I have filled them with Portulaca and Delosperma (Ice Flower); both are wonderful in hot, dry conditions! I added that one dark purple petunia…we shall see.

Another ‘to-do’ is to plant seeds. I don’t plant many seeds as I find they just do not do well for me. Last year a friend started some in his greenhouse for me (seeds brought back from England so they were very special!) but otherwise I […]

FRIDAY FLOWERS: A NEW TAKE ON GARDEN TOOLS

By Libby|2019-04-04T20:49:49-04:00April 4, 2019|Friday Flowers, Garden, Shopping|

My “new take on garden tools” is this:
How do you garden if you have any (I mean ANY ) physical problems, aches and pains, are post-surgery, aging, have knees that don’t bend with quite the same ease, hips that creak, and any sort of arthritis.
That pretty much covers an entire range of issues, doesn’t it?

Well, maybe you are in one or more of those categories. I am! Having had hand surgery in early December I am almost back to normal, but not quite. And the knees creak a bit. And I am always aware of the elbow surgery of eleven years ago.

What are the options?

Stop gardening
Hire someone to do the gardening
Investigate new tools that just might help

#1 is just not an option for me.
#2 no, not there…yet!
#3 Yes. I have done just that: I have scoured the internet and various companies for all sorts of
helpful garden tools that just might be useful to own and use.

Very first on my own personal list was a low stool of some kind. I’ve seen the various benches that show someone kneeling and working in a garden. Well, I don’t want to have to kneel! And those benches have a footprint of about 23″ long. Do you realize how difficult that would be to put […]

FRIDAY FLOWERS: HELPFUL HINT!

By Libby|2019-03-21T19:30:47-04:00March 21, 2019|Friday Flowers, Garden|

Helpful Hint = Reminder
Don’t forget to use Holly Tone!

It’s that time of year: time to feed and nourish those acid loving plants. Hydrangeas, Camellias, Azalias, Rhododendrons, Hollies and Evergreens.
It’s best to feed in the fall also, but the spring feed is the biggie! Just sprinkle around the base out to the drip line, work in gently and maybe give a little water (if rain is not in the forcast.)

Your plants will thank you!

Not to be overlooked: the garden is coming along with spring vibes. Look at this
lychnis coronaris “Alba”
The plants are thriving; just when I thought they were not going to make it at all.

I planted them from seeds brought back from England two years ago. I started them last winter/spring, planted them outside in April and watched, all summer long, as they just sat. Nothing. But at least they didn’t die!

And now, I think we might actually have flowers this summer! To be continued….

That’s it for the weeks gardening updates. Hope you have a lovely first weekend of Spring!

FRIDAY FLOWERS: CONTAINER GARDENING

By Libby|2019-03-14T17:07:43-04:00March 14, 2019|8 McDowell, Friday Flowers, Garden|

Container gardening is one of the things I love most about gardening.

I love the colors and textures (surprise, surprise, right?)

Containers can, sometimes, be the only way to garden in a difficult spot. We have a Japanese Maple in our terrace garden that totally prevents me from digging into the ground below it. Containers to the rescue!

They add dimension to certain spaces. The tall green one below forms an end point in one garden and raises the eye a bit.

I’ve always liked containers by a front entrance. In my case, we have brick steps leading to a brick porch area with the front door. What a perfect place for containers. The only problem here is it faces directly west with that very hot afternoon sun so I have to be very careful with what plants will survive. Succulents have, over the years here, been the best choice.

containers in my garden

Here is a photo I had put into Instagram back in February. You can see what was, to my eye, pure garden candy! Oh the colors. So, of course, I went back and bought that orange one you see at beginning of this post. Do I love it? […]