All throughout the land, on this first Sunday of Advent, on this eve of the first predicted snowfall of the season, gardeners everywhere are scurrying around putting the last of the garden to be bed. Hoses. Check. Disconnected and hauled into the garage. Pots. Check. Hauled into the garage or covered to keep them from getting too wet and freezing and then cracking. Veggie Garden. Check. Covered in leaves, along with the figs. Bulbs. Check. Planted. Hey, wait a dog-gone, tulip-picking minute! … [Read more...] about A Different Kind of Holiday Greenery
winter
Winter Has Arrived And It is Making Me Shovel the Driveway
A few weeks ago, well actually last weekend when it was warm enough that I went out and cut down my grapevines, I had this fleeting idea that perhaps we were going to escape actual "winter", meaning, of course, snow. I was wrong. Foolishly so. I guess. We aren't going to escape actual winter. We never do. But we can certainly hope that this snowfall is it. The big show. The big snow. The one. The only. Okay, that would also be foolish to hope for. What we should hope for is an early … [Read more...] about Winter Has Arrived And It is Making Me Shovel the Driveway
The Lone Snowdrop
I looked out the window a few days ago and surveyed the back garden. Within seconds, I saw the gleaming white of a lone snowdrop in bloom. Lovely readers, we simply do not have snowdrops blooming this early around here, until this year. I assume the mild fall, followed by a colder than normal few days in November, followed but what has been so far a mild winter, coaxed this one lone snowdrop to come up and flower. As soon as I saw it from the window, I ran out the door with my smartphone in … [Read more...] about The Lone Snowdrop
My Houseplant Revelation
I had a revelation about houseplants the other day and I'm here to tell you that it is the most liberating revelation I've had in quite some time. I have some really old houseplants in my sunroom. I have an aloe vera plant that comes from an aloe plant once owned by my great-grandmother. Offsets from that aloe plant have been handed down to me and I, in turn, have given offsets to others in the family. My great-grandmother was born in 1878 which means my aloe plant originated from a … [Read more...] about My Houseplant Revelation
Dirty Knees and All is Well
A few days ago, the crocuses were covered with about an inch of snow and winter was decidedly present in the garden. Today, the snow has mostly melted except in the coldest parts of the garden and the crocuses are coming up faster than I can count them. Count them? I did attempt a count last year, early on, and quit at about 300. I know I've planted well more than that–perhaps 3,000 over the last several years–so I expect to see crocuses popping up for several more weeks. Time to crack … [Read more...] about Dirty Knees and All is Well
Delights of the winter garden
I am delighted to see several crocuses blooming in the lawn in the first days of February, our last full month of winter. I checked my garden journal, which I will admit contains mostly sporadic notes these days, and discovered that the crocuses have been in bloom this time of the year for the last several years. It was a good reminder to me of the difference between being surprised because something unexpected happened and being delighted because something nice happened as expected. Like … [Read more...] about Delights of the winter garden
