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Canteerbury Bells
This year has been my best ever for Canterbury bells–a plant I’ve grown on and off for more than thirty years. They’re biennials–like foxgloves, forget-me-nots, and dame’s rocket. Folilage grows the first year and, in the second year, they bloom, set seed, and die. Outside of catalogs, I’d never seen Canterbury bells. I ordered several…
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A Good Start
Spring weather has arrived here in Athens. Locals say Good Friday is the safe planting date to avoid late frosts. Given the way Easter moves around, that’s tricky. I go with April 22–the day between the birthdays of Dad and his mother from whom I inherited a green thumb. Little is blooming beyond some store-bought…
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Pickled Weeds?
A post promoting vinegar (one gallon), salt (one cup) and dish soap (one tablespoon) as a replacement for RoundUp recently came across my Facebook feed. The active ingredient in Roundup is nasty, but effective at killing plants–and lots of other things. A more earth-friendly approach appealed to me. Weeds pop up in cracks in the…
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Patience Rewarded
This year is the best yet for my indoor seed-starting operation. Rather than the end of December, I held off until February to start anything. Waiting made a big difference. On Groundhog’s Day, I started Gloriosa daisy–a double variety of Black-eyed Susan. Seedlings appeared a few days later and stayed under lights until big enough…
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Progress in the Garden
Since moving to this house in November 2012, I’ve removed more permanent plants from the yard than I’ve added. The removals had outgrown their allotted space–and then some. Committing to replacements has been a challenge. I decided to hold off before planting anything to study the space. I fixed drainage issues, improved the soil, and…
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Happy Groundhog’s Day!
February 2 may well be my favorite day of the year. The groundhog definitely saw a shadow at my place. Whether he’s right or wrong, the possibility of an early spring lifts my spirits. I celebrate every year by planting something. Usually, I plant cool-season seeds and seedlings outside. I hadn’t planned to grow any…
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Planning for Planting
The 2025 garden season is here. Hope springs eternal. Visions of beautiful flowers and bountiful harvests dance through my head. This year will be the best yet! More often than not, each new season is better than the last–especially with plants that come back every year. Experience makes a difference too. Lessons learned in previous…
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Temporarily Perfect
The new fence and mulch mentioned in my Fresh Start post a few weeks ago have finally been installed. Thanks to Hurricane Helene, the wait for the fence ended up being closer to six weeks than the two promised by the contractor. The old fence still worked, so no harm done. My decision to focus…
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Tea (Olive) Time!
Every fall, a delightful fragrance fills the air here in Athens. Tracking the scent to its source is a challenge. I don’t recall how long I’d lived here before a garden buddy told me it came from tea olives (Osmanthus fragrans). Tea olives are broad-leaved evergreens that bloom intermittently from fall to early spring. The…
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Fresh Start
After moving from an overwhelmingly large yard to something more manageable twelve year ago, my return to gardening has been gradual. There is no landscape design or grand vision for a garden. My flower beds were already here or evolved to make mowing easier. Limited growing space and a pages-long list of must-haves keep me…