dahlias

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.

Visitors asked about two plants at my Colchicum Open Garden. The first one is readily available at garden centers or online. The second one is a little trickier to find--it helps if you know someone. But visitors were also surprised to see so much in bloom at the end of September. It helps if you know my special plants and (not so) secret techniques. Click over to my blog post and I'll share them with you!

Are you familiar with the children's picture book Goodnight Moon? In it, a young rabbit says good night to all the objects in his bedroom as a way of settling down to sleep. Frost is predicted for later this week--I marvel that we've dodged the bullet this long--and I went around my garden to say [...]

This has been the best gardening year I can remember. Until a dry spell arrived in September, we enjoyed consistent rainfall and moderate temperatures. There is nothing like moist soil and a cool morning to draw a gardener into the garden, and that's where I went, leaving my blog behind me. Here are some of [...]

This has been a very mild fall. We've had the occasional skin-of-the-teeth frost, which means some frost on the back lawn, but not enough to touch the plants in a raised bed, or the stone floor of the front porch, or the back deck, which is a floor above ground level. As a result, a [...]

Part of what makes my cold climate garden cold is the fact that we live in the bottom of a valley, and cold air flows downhill and settles all around us. So however cold the weatherman predicts it will get, it's usually colder here. Often, ten degrees colder. For example, on May 12th, when a [...]

I planted a dahlia in the ground today. Should I join Gamblers Anonymous? http://ping.fm/HKOhp

Usually, when you want to know your last spring frost, the experts send you to a hardiness zone map, a chart, or even the NOAA records, conceding that this will only give you a ballpark figure. If you really want to know your local last frost date, consult a neighbor--at least until you've kept records [...]