My husband (and mom and daughter) are much better photographers than I am, so I'm always excited when one of them wants to shoot some photos of my gardens. Here's some of what my husband saw the last couple of days through his macro lens. Brilliant Zinnias One of my favorite annuals--Marigolds More … Continue reading A Macro Look at the July Garden
Category: Flowers
After Vacation
After a wonderful beach vacation and some college tours, we're finally back home. As expected, the weather has been crazy while we were gone. The temperatures were just about average, but rainfall was almost double the normal amount. Included in this total was a single storm that dumped almost 2 inches of rain in under … Continue reading After Vacation
Before Vacation
It's always tough to go leave the garden and go on vacation. It seems like something (or everything) is ready to just burst out in color or ripen just in time to go away. Or the weather can you throw you a curve ball and get crazy hot/cold or dry/wet. Very unpredictable. I assumed this year … Continue reading Before Vacation
Not the Marigolds!
In one of my mom Peggy's raised beds she had the beginnings of a beautiful bed of huge African Marigolds (Tagetes erecta). If you love marigolds like I do, I couldn't wait to see how this was going to look in the next few weeks. Then, one morning she woke up to this... ...and I got … Continue reading Not the Marigolds!
Geranium and Petunia Planter: Summer Maintenance
In my last post, I showed you how I planted my geranium and petunia planter (Geranium and Petunia Planter). Aside from watering and fertilizing as needed, there's a little bit more maintenance to do to keep the plants bushy and pretty. Basically you need to pinch off the dying flowers before they turn to seed. This … Continue reading Geranium and Petunia Planter: Summer Maintenance
Geranium and Petunia Planter
In my experience, to have a successful planter or pot, there's a few tricks you'll want to use. First, be sure your planter has a drain hole. If not, try to drill some if the planter material allows Add a layer of something to keep the soil from washing out (and can cut down on … Continue reading Geranium and Petunia Planter
Uh Oh, Frost in MI Last Night
Last night the temperature at my mom Peggy's house was predicted to get down to the low 30's. That means frost was a real possibility. If you saw her gardens in my post a couple of days ago (Gardening: All in the Family), you know her plants are well underway and many not able to survive … Continue reading Uh Oh, Frost in MI Last Night
Gardening: All in the Family
For as long as I can remember my mom had vegetable and flower gardens, sometimes big, sometimes small. So did my grandparents. All this interest in growing things rubbed off on me and hopefully I'll pass it on to my kids. With that in mind, I had my mom and daughter take us on a tour … Continue reading Gardening: All in the Family
A View of the June Garden-Front yard
Yesterday, the backyard, now on to the front yard... This is the area of biggest change. In preparation for new construction, all the trees next door were taken down in early April. We knew this was likely at some point (see Problem Areas) and had tried to plan ahead. This garden contains arborvitae, annabelle hydrangeas, hostas and … Continue reading A View of the June Garden-Front yard
A View of the June Garden-Backyard
I took a tour of my yard today to see how everything was looking. Other than a little late, most things were looking quite healthy. It seems I'm often focussed on the "little picture", so it was nice to just step back and look at the "big picture". Starting in the back... Hostas, sedum, peonies, … Continue reading A View of the June Garden-Backyard