Series

It's an experiment: I'm wintering over a bunch of plants from my summer containers, hoping I can grow them again next year, even bigger and better. I know I don't have ideal conditions, but I won't know what works and what doesn't unless I try. Read along to find out how I'm storing over a dozen different plants.

I had a fabulous 60th birthday back in April. My family completely and utterly surprised me with a gift I never could have imagined and will always treasure. You've got to see it to believe it!

A goldenrod that grows in the shade? Yes, there is such a thing!

Need some "buttercup cheerfulness"? Sundrops are the plant for you--and me.

Crocuses. I bet you think you know all about them, but I have some crocuses you've never heard of. And do you grow them in the lawn? Yes, squirrels eat them for some people, but not me. They are too busy eating the bird seed I put out for the birds. This is the third in my series about planting the earliest blooming bulbs where the snow melts first. Click over and read it!

Snowdrops are tied with winter aconites for the prize of very-first-bloom. They have become quite the "it" flower and single bulbs of rare cultivars can go for breathtaking prices. But save your breath and your pocketbook and invest in the varieties that multiply quickly, such as those described in my post. Buy a few and pretty soon you'll have enough to make a patch. And a patch will be visible from inside the house. Just sayin'. Click over to my blog and read all about them.

This spring has tested the hardiness of my hardy soul. I bet it's tested yours, too, especially if you live in the Northern Plains and parts east that were bombarded by "Winter Storm Xanto". In light of what my fellow cold climate gardeners are enduring, I'm not going to complain about my weather, which seems [...]

Afflicted with cabin fever, I went on a road trip to see some fabulous botanical images made with a flatbed scanner. That's right, just like the one in your home or office. Flowers, vegetables and other plants and parts of plants in three-dimensional luminous color--they were wonderful! And I'm sharing them with you in this blog post.

There is probably a machine that does what I did today, and does it faster, and maybe even does it better. But I don't know where I would find that machine, and even if I did, I probably wouldn't be able to afford it, not even to rent it. So it doesn't make any difference, except if I had done it with a machine, no one would think I was crazy. But I had a Vision of what I wanted to see come spring, and I was determined.