While shopping at a garden center the other day a woman I was standing beside struck up a conversation. She said, “Every year I start my tomato plants inside from seed.
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Spring is just around the corner. I counted four robins in my yard the other day. I took advantage of the sunny, warm day to start some clean up in my yard
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My favorite time of year is fast approaching. Even the songs of the birds in the trees proclaim, “Spring in near!” I look out the window at my garden and I see splashes of green.
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Ten o’clock at night, it may as well be midnight. The house is dark and everything is quiet; except my mind. Two more hours and you will be off shift. What will those two hours hold?
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I made myself a promise in regard to my flower garden this year. I have vowed to plant at least one, and possibly two different plants that I have ever grown before.
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All summer long I take notes about my garden. I write down the plants that I paired in containers and if they grew well together or if one dominated the other. I take note of pest or disease problems.
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An elderly man passed me in the isle in our local grocery store the other day. He glanced over my cart overflowing with food items and toys for my little grandson’s first Christmas.
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I worked in my greenhouse the other day. My geraniums and tropical Hibiscus were still blooming. I cut all the blooms off, (yes, that’s was tough to do.) Then, I trimmed all of the plants back by one third.
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The other day I read an article on the subject of fire as a natural and essential part of California’s eco systems. In nature, lightning and volcanic activity started fires.
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Growing up in zone 5 I had a favorite evergreen tree. It was the Colorado Blue Spruce. Colorado Blue Spruce, (Picea pungens) grow 50-75’ tall and as much as 20’ wide.
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We received our first frost here in zone 7 the other day. The blossoms on my red chrysanthemums are fading. A friend called and asked if she should cut their perennials back. My answer was, “No.”
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We all enjoy the brilliant colors of autumn leaves. However, the picturesque display quickly disappears with a brisk gust of wind. The beautiful fall color turns brown.
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We had two apple trees on the farm I grew up on. At harvest time one of the chores I had was to go out every day and pick up the windfall apples.
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Someone asked me the other day. “How do you keep your flower garden looking so nice?” My answer is simple. I work at it. I easily spend 10-20 hours per week working in my garden during the summer.
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I have finished digging in my garden and have all my tender plants potted and ready for the greenhouse. In their place I have planted pansies and set out my fall decorations on the front porch.
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There were several park benches placed sporadically around my parent’s farm. My dad loved to sit at them and look across the country side. The land in the area of North Central Iowa that I grew up in was primarily flat.
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A few weeks back our lawn mower died. It was old and running really rough. We had it worked on last summer and it did well for a little while. We had hoped to limp it through another summer.
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I became a grandmother for the very first time this past April. I have always heard that there was no way to describe the incredible joy of being a grandparent. That statement is absolutely true.
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