A beautiful garden at the Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island with a thousand shades of green glistening on a cool, rainy day. How does one describe such a place? How many... Garden fairies here! What is the deal? This is an outrage! We are garden fairies and we are roasting... baking... frying up out here amidst the drying cornstalks and wilting squash in Carol's garden. And she was where?? In Seattle with garden bloggers at a Fling? Cool Seattle? Rainy Seattle? Have to wear a jacket … [Read more...] about Postcard from Bainbridge Island
gardens
You will see whatever you came to see
I saw a sea of green, perfect for garden fairies to hide in on brightly lit days at the Bellevue Botanical Garden. The docent at the garden saw Oxalis oregana redwood sorrel, which she said can be somewhat invasive. It is a native plant found in the wooded areas of the Pacific northwest, but it is only hardy to USDA Hardiness zone 7, so it is off limits for my garden. Perhaps the closest we could plant to this would be the much larger leaved mayapples, Podophyllum peltatum. Though … [Read more...] about You will see whatever you came to see
Ladybug, Ladybug… Have You Been to Texas?
"Ladybug, ladybug, where have you been?" I've been to Dallas, Texas to attend the 62nd Garden Writers Association Symposium, that's where I've been! I had a Texas-sized good time, too, meeting all kinds of fabulous garden writers and communicators and representatives of companies who sell plants, tools, and all manner of gardeny things. I also attended some educational sessions and visited an eclectic mix of gardens while sweating in the heat. Now I know what "hot as Texas" really … [Read more...] about Ladybug, Ladybug… Have You Been to Texas?
On The Eve of Bloom Day: Elizabeth Lawrence’s Garden
Here we are, on the eve of another Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. I'll head out in a bit to see what is blooming in my garden, thinking about Elizabeth Lawrence, and her quote that inspired bloom day, "We can have blooms nearly every month of the year." I received an email the other day letting me know that Elizabeth Lawrence's garden and five other gardens will be open for The Garden Conservancy Tour on September 25-26 in Charlotte, NC. If it were just a little closer, I'd be tempted to … [Read more...] about On The Eve of Bloom Day: Elizabeth Lawrence’s Garden
Redefining Quintessential Buffalo
Buffalo, New York. The quintessential snow storm city, forever pictured in the minds of out-of-towners as a place where snow is ever present. Forget about all of that! Now it's Buffalo, New York. The quintessential gardening city, forever pictured in the minds of gardeners and other people as a place where gardens are everywhere. Remember it that way! From exuberant plantings of perennials and annuals in that strip of ground between the sidewalk and the street... To the serenity … [Read more...] about Redefining Quintessential Buffalo
On Visiting Gardens
I just figured out something about visiting gardens while reading more of the letters in Becoming Elizabeth Lawrence: Discovered Letters of a Southern Gardener edited by Emily Herring Wilson. Elizabeth wrote a letter to Ann Preston Bridgers in April 1945 about her visit to Lob’s Wood, the gardens of Carl Krippendorf, where apparently a late freeze had blackened the magnolias and lilacs and all the daffodils were wilting. She wrote, “He was exactly like you about the frost, and I … [Read more...] about On Visiting Gardens
