Lately—and I'll just admit it up front—for many years, my favorite flowers in the garden share a cultivar name of 'Variety Unknown'. These are the first two reticulated irises that popped up a few days ago. They are 'Variety Unknown', part of a mix of Iris reticulata I purchased years ago. They are slowly coming up to join the crocuses in full bloom now, which are also 'Variety Unknown'. The crocuses are from mixed collections of Crocus tommasinianus, planted years ago, affectionately … [Read more...] about In My Garden: ‘Variety Unknown’
Blog
Talking About Gardening: The Enchantment Ages
I read an essay titled "Talking About Bicycles" in a book of essays, Present Concerns: Journalistic Essays, by C. S. Lewis, and my thoughts turned to gardening. As they do. "I think there are these four ages about nearly everything. Let's give them names. They are the Unenchanted Age, the Enchanted Age, the Disenchanted Age, and the Re-enchanted Age. " We enchanted gardeners find it hard to believe, but there are people who are unenchanted with gardening. They can take it or leave it. … [Read more...] about Talking About Gardening: The Enchantment Ages
And so it begins, with crocuses
Yesterday, I headed out in the morning sunshine for a walk around the neighborhood and before I stepped off my driveway, I spotted the first little crocus in bloom. And so it begins. When I got home, I went out to the backyard to see if I could spot any crocuses in the lawn. I've planted thousands of crocus corms in my lawn, going back to at least 2011. I didn't see any, but the snow was still melting. This morning, as I waited for the water to warm up for a cup of tea, I looked out … [Read more...] about And so it begins, with crocuses
Gardening Motto Generator
Do you have a motto for your garden this year? Usually around the beginning of the calendar year, I see posts and videos from people who are adopting a motto to guide them through the year. A verbal North Star of sorts. Presumably, when these people get into a tight spot, or have a decision to make, they go back to their motto for the year and apply it. Maybe their motto is "Be Bold!" and they can't decide whether to get one or two pumps of whatever it is they pump into those fancy … [Read more...] about Gardening Motto Generator
I’m so February…
For the first time in quite some time, we had enough snow and cold that I paid someone to shovel out my driveway. Normally I clear it off myself but we had at least eight inches of snow the other day, if not more. That alone was a lot to shovel, but what made the decision to hire out the work easier was the two foot mountain of snow at the end of the drive left by the snow plow which came through twice. And it has been well below freezing all week. I found the guys who did the job when I … [Read more...] about I’m so February…
Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – February 2021
Welcome to Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day for February 2021. Here in my USDA Zone 6a garden in central Indiana, it is currently 7ºF, which is -14ºC. There is some snow on the ground, but it is a patchy bit of snow covered with a thin coating of a light snow that fell overnight. "Fell" isn't probably the best way to describe how that particular bit of snow landed on the ground. "Floated down" might be better. Beginning Sunday evening (Feb. 14th), more snow should fall so that by Tuesday … [Read more...] about Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day – February 2021
