“And all at once, summer collapsed into fall.” - Oscar WildeI notice as I walk around the neighborhood these days that some trees are already shedding their leaves—river birches and ash trees primarily. (Yes, there are a few ash trees still growing in my neighborhood, protected from the Emerald Ash Borers by their owners' judicious use of systemic insecticide treatments.)Is there anything better than shuffling through fallen leaves? I love the sound of them crunching under my shoes.The pine … [Read more...] about Summer Collapsed
fall
Milestones
This week, Dee Nash and I published our 100th Gardenangelists podcast episode.That's a nice milestone, don't you think?Through those 100 episodes, we've learned quite a bit and hopefully shared some nice tidbits about gardening.We learned along the way that publishing a podcast isn't quite as easy as writing a blog post and hitting "publish" when you are done writing and have given it a once over. It takes a bit of time to sync up our two MP3 files, edit out the pauses and background … [Read more...] about Milestones
2019: A Mast Year for Trees
They are declaring 2019 is a mast year for trees. A mast year is when all kinds of trees collectively produce more than their normal amount of seed. Really, look it up. Just do an online search for "mast year 2019" and behold all the articles and posts about this phenomenon. You can also read that scientists and others don't really understand how it is that all the trees seem to coordinate their efforts, so to speak, to abundantly flower and produce massive amounts of seed in the same … [Read more...] about 2019: A Mast Year for Trees
Garden fairies are busy!
Garden fairies here. We are garden fairies and we have a tale to tell all of you. Well, not so much a tale but really more about how we are garden fairies and we often have to go to great lengths to make sure certain flowers don't get wrecked by the rain. Flowers like these fall-flowering Crocus speciosus. Yesterday and early this morning we had to protect them from a deluge of rainfall. Then this afternoon, the sun came out and we all had to scurry around to open them up. Got to make hay … [Read more...] about Garden fairies are busy!
The Spell Has Been Broken!
The spell has been broken. We've made it to the other side. We are now in the land of autumn, with clear blue skies, crisp morning temperatures, and bees hastily gobbling up the last of the nectar and pollen. Behind us are those last hot, decidedly unseasonable days of record setting temperatures above 90ºF. Ahead of us, fallen leaves will soon carpet the lawn and flower borders and I'll be clearing off the vegetable garden and pulling all the weeds I can find. Packages and boxes of flower … [Read more...] about The Spell Has Been Broken!
This is when the magic happens
I've finished putting a lovely layer of chopped up leaves and grass on my vegetable garden beds. Now the magic can begin. The magic of rotting. Of composting. Billions, maybe zillions, of micro-organisms, including bacteria and fungi, are settling in and starting to do their thing by munching through all the plant debris and turning it into something that plants can use next year for their nourishment. They are joined by legions of other creatures including insects and worms who … [Read more...] about This is when the magic happens
