Yes, I started blogging on this date eight years ago. So much has changed. I’ve been through three different publishing platforms, adopting WordPress in 2005.

Felt so alone when I started, so began a blog directory to keep track of other garden blogs. Now my directory is only the tip of the iceberg! Zanthan Gardens was one of my first garden blog buddies.

But the goals that I stated in that first post are pretty much the same, except I never did manage to make it work as a collaborative blog (my friend Bub announced she was getting OFF the internet before I got the chance to ask her to be a co-author). And I decided against creating a fan page for Winterrowd & Eck, though I did review A Year at North Hill..

Now instead of a pioneer, I am more of an old fogey, getting left behind in the dust as all these young whippersnappers latch onto social media, the new frontier, so to speak. But I’m still plodding on. a citizen of the increasingly populated Blogasphere, with neighbors on every side.

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Fortunately, by the thirtieth or fortieth or fiftieth year or thereabouts, the gardener strikes that balance by which he has the best of all seasons. By the time one is eighty, it is said, there is no longer a tug of war in the garden with the May flowers hauling like mad against the claims of the other months. All is at last in balance and all is serene. The gardener is usually dead, of course.
Henry Mitchell

Joe-Pye Weed: Wildflower Wednesday

August 25, 2010

A brook borders the northern edge of our property, and several clumps of Joe-Pye weed (Eupatorium fistulosum) grow along the banks. I love the silvery mauve blossoms, which are large enough and tall enough to be seen across the chicken yard, a good seventy feet away.

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Earliest Colchicums Ever

August 24, 2010

After two days of much-needed rain, I decided to walk around the garden to see what I could see. I wasn’t really expecting to see colchicums blooming, because they usually start in September. Perhaps the extended hot and dry spell, followed by the cool, rainy weather encouraged them to break dormancy early. At any rate, [...]

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How to Garden Like You’re in the Tropics
When You’re Stuck in the Snow

August 23, 2010

Editor’s note: Starting seeds is usually something cold climate gardeners do in the wi– no, I won’t say that word. But some seeds can be started now. Guest blogger Lisa Ueda shares her method for starting cannas from seed. My winter vacation destination of choice has always been the Florida Keys, where I usually fantasize [...]

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Three for Thursday: Tomato-Pesto Pizza

August 19, 2010

Tomatoes Pesto Tomato-Pesto Pizza Here’s how we make this pizza. Three for Thursday: playing along with Cindy of My Corner of Katy.

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August Doldrums: Garden Bloggers Bloom Day August 2010

August 15, 2010

Most of the garden looks a bit unkempt. Browned foliage, browned, undeadheaded flowers, interspersed with plants that like August. Bring on the heat, they say. What’s a little drought to a plant like me? The garden would look pretty terrific if I had been deadheading and deadleafing right along. But as usual, I am pulling [...]

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Hydrangeas that Thrive in a Cold Climate

August 14, 2010

Hydrangea arborescens, Hydrangea anomala, and Hydrangea paniculata are three terrific hydrangeas for cold climates. Remember those names. Write them down on the inside of your arm with a pen if you have to before you visit your local nursery, so that you will not be seduced by the flashy macrophyllas calling to you from every [...]

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Colchicum interview on Web Talk Radio

August 10, 2010

I join Helen Yoest of Gardening With Confidence this week to talk about Colchicums on Web Talk Radio. They will be blooming in about a month, you know.

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Tree Survival Tips for Summer Heat

August 5, 2010

Tree Survival Tips for Summer Heat via The Wired Gardener http://bit.ly/bvVLTi. The Wired Gardener is a newsletter, now become a blog, of the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society’s McClean Library. It almost always has a link to an online gardening resource I hadn’t heard about, and now includes helpful blog posts about current gardening topics, such as [...]

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Elderberry: Wildflower Wednesday

July 28, 2010

The American Elderberry (Sambucus canadensis) is a native shrub that grows in the ditches and hedgerows here. As you can see it has attractive white flowers. The flowers attract all sorts of pollinators, but I don’t know any of their names. I tried to find a list but couldn’t. (If you know of a website [...]

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Garden Bloggers Bloom Day July 2010

July 20, 2010

Five days late. I considered skipping it this month. But participating in Garden Bloggers Bloom Day has allowed me to track changes in the garden, so I decided to post most tardily. Several plants that were blooming last year are done blooming already, such as cephalaria and pink foxglove. The tunic flower and perennial flax [...]

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Buffalo Is Not A Cold Climate

July 11, 2010

What do you think of when you think of Buffalo? All. That. Snow. Well, all that snow comes from moist air over Lake Erie. All that snow insulates the soil and protects the plants. And Lake Erie, big enough to be an inland ocean, moderates the climate year round, so that it is cooler in [...]

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Mystery Wild Flower Needs Has A Name

June 30, 2010

This past Sunday I enjoyed a family reunion at Chenango Valley State Park. But, like the gardening geek I am, while other family members were taking pictures of cousins in swimming suits or Grandma eating sweet corn, I took a walk around Lily Lake and started taking pictures of wild flowers with my HTC Incredible [...]

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