When it comes to flowers, more is better! Take a walk through your garden. Do you see areas that could use more blooms? Are there spots that look a little bare or sparse? You can easily fill these holes in your landscape if you increased the number of plants you’re growing. The biggest problem with increasing flowering plants is the cost. The price of nursery stock has jumped this year.Read More →
Every morning, I take a stroll around my newly planted garden areas. The seedlings are coming up and the dahlias have broken ground. It’s so exciting to see all the new growth. While my plants are growing slowly, all around them is a massive amount of very determined plants that have sprung up. Some of these plants are weeds and some are overachievers in the garden. What is an overachieverRead More →
Here’s a gardener’s nightmare… you purchase your beautiful flower seeds for the growing season. In the spring, you plant those seeds in the ground. And then you wait for the first little sprouts to pop up. You wait. And you wait. And you wait some more. Eventually, you realize nothing is going to grow. Why did your brand new seeds fail? Maybe the seeds needed a period of cold inRead More →
It’s the height of summer and the cutting garden is blooming like crazy. You go to grab a vase for your latest bouquet and you can’t find any empty containers. You’ve already filled them or given them away to your neighbors. Short of running to the store to buy a new vase, what can you do? Fortunately, there are lots of possibilities for vases when creating a summer bouquet. LookRead More →
As I walk through my garden, I’m amazed at all the flying creatures moving about. Birds, bees, butterflies, and moths make their way to the flowers and plants growing around the garden. The garden is like a giant smorgasbord for these creatures. Growing a diverse garden of plants provides a lovely display for you, but a feast for these wonderful pollinators. As many of us know, pollination is vital toRead More →
For years I walked away from the section in the garden center where they were selling dahlia tubers. Yes, the flowers looked pretty. The colors were varied and the tubers seemed easy to plant. But, I shied away from having to dig the tubers up each fall if I wanted to continue to grow the flowers. It seemed like so much work. I didn’t have any place to store themRead More →
Snow is falling. The wind is blowing outside. And the temperature is cold enough to freeze the water in your dog’s bowl. It’s too miserable to be outside. Now is the perfect time to curl up with an inspiring book. A great garden book can inspire you in so many ways. It can help you get started learning a new skill. Or motivate you to add in new garden features.Read More →
If you’re growing a cutting garden, then consider preserving some of your flowers to use later for crafts and home decor. One easy way to preserve your floral bounty is by drying the flowers. Learn how to dry flowers with these simple ideas. Over the years, many people have replaced dried flowers with faux stems. Faux flowers are lovely and so lifelike these days. Because of this, many people thinkRead More →
Flower bouquets for the rest of us. Simple steps that anyone can follow to create a pretty bouquet in no time. I enjoy growing flowers and creating bouquets for myself and to give away. When I first started creating bouquets, my fledgling efforts looked like “child’s play”. Basically, I just stuck flowers in the vase with no thought of how to place them. As I continued to grow flowers, IRead More →
As I look around my yard and garden, there are flowers growing in numerous pots and containers. Most have a consistent look to them…terracotta is one of my favorite style containers. I also have a lot of vintage containers in my garden. Usually, when I need a new container I can head to the local garden center or hit the yard sales and thrift stores. But this year, that’s notRead More →