I recently started reading Some Ancient Gentlemen: Being an Examination of Certain People, Plants and Gardens by Tyler Whittle (1966, Taplinger Publishing Co., Inc. ) Ah, the good ol' days of garden writing. I'm not saying that gardening books these days are boring. I'm just saying that reading books from 50—oh wait—56 years ago, introduces one to a style of writing that we don't often see these days. I could quote and quote and quote from this book but instead I'll just hone in on the … [Read more...] about What is a floracrat?
gardening
Got a case of the “I shoulds?”
'Tis the time of year when everyone seems to come down with a case of the "I shoulds." You might have a case of it now! How do you know if you have a case of the "I shoulds?" The classic symptom is you find yourself thinking about what you should be doing right now as we round the corner to Christmas, the week in between, and then New Years Eve. In more advanced cases, you might actually be speaking the "I shoulds" out loud to your family or anyone within earshot. For example, … [Read more...] about Got a case of the “I shoulds?”
Only Grow What You Know?
Is it good advice for gardeners to only grow the plants they know? Heavens, no. That's not good advice at all. It's good advice to tell gardeners to know the plants they are growing. Otherwise, gardening would be boring, like eating the same foods every day and never trying something new. Or trying one thing new and then sticking with that one dish without thinking about other new foods. I do that sometimes when it comes to restaurants and food. I go to a new restaurant, pick … [Read more...] about Only Grow What You Know?
An Hour a Day in the Garden
It was actually the garden fairies who posted in late August about my plan to spend an hour a day every day in my garden doing something—weeding, deadheading, mowing. I've just finished my 38th consecutive day of this "hour a day" plan. Yep, I haven't missed a day, though occasionally, I have modified my definition of what an hour in the garden is. For example, one day it rained nearly all day, but I gave myself credit for that day because in between raindrops, I managed to plant two … [Read more...] about An Hour a Day in the Garden
Move those rocks over there, and this edging over here…
This past week I've been moving edging blocks, stones, and rocks around the garden. But before I explain about all the rocks and edging I moved around, please gaze upon some of my nasturtiums. Don't they look lovely? I grew them from seed directly sown in the garden way back in May. They plugged along all summer and now that it is cooling down a bit, they've nearly doubled in size and look wonderful. Don't you agree? Back to rocks and edging. I tried to explain to Dee in the most … [Read more...] about Move those rocks over there, and this edging over here…
What Makes Me Happy Today
One evening I was out in the garden and turned my head just as the fading light of the end of the day came through a hardy begonia leaf. I was happy to see it and to capture a photo of it. On the patio, I found these seedlings. I love that violas are seeding themselves in the cracks between the patio bricks. The other weeds? Not so much. I can usually get them out with the string trimmer, but I'm leaving these violas alone. I'm letting any viola seedlings that show up stay right … [Read more...] about What Makes Me Happy Today
