heuchera

November started out marvelously with highs in the 50s(F) and one day even hit 66°(19C). The second week the switch flipped and the real November showed up with a vengeance. Most nights have been in the teens, but we also got two nights that dipped into single digits (9F=-13C)--that's unseasonably low for November and was [...]

It's been four years since I started working on the gardens here at the "new" house. I thought it was about time I gave you a full-fledged tour. It takes a bit of time to see all the gardens, so prepare for a leisurely visit. Can I pour you something to drink? Let's start the [...]

This is my fourth spring in this garden. For three years I have been creating garden beds, but this year I have been editing them: rearranging the furniture, so to speak. I have been having a lot of fun. It is my art; it engages my creative juices, as I seek the most aesthetically pleasing [...]

We’re busy, we’re aging, but we love gardening! Are you swamped with a job and family; or an over-50 gardener that doesn’t move at the same pace; or a city dweller with a passion for plants but little space to work with? I bet you fall into one of the above scenarios.  I fit two [...]

Just as we did in October 2010, we skipped the early frosts of September and went straight to a hard freeze: 22F on October 13th. With a cold snap like that, you might think everything would be flattened. But you would be wrong. Gotta Love That Rose! First a tip of the hat to Rosa [...]

This past weekend we had a thaw, temps above freezing and enough rain to wash the several inches of snow that had been on the ground. Since then we've gotten more snow, but that thaw is how I know that the two hellebores that I reported blooming for November's GBBD are still blooming.Snow is the [...]

Heading into fall, there are times when we might be feeling overworked, too frazzled, or simply not feeling like doing everything we normally do. Everyone needs to find their own balance in the garden, but you may want to take the time to avoid these common mistakes which can wind up costing you in the long [...]

Our first frost this autumn was later than usual, and was actually a hard freeze, dropping to 26F(-3.3C) on Sunday, October 10th. Most gardeners in warmer climates imagine a hard freeze like this: But cold climate gardeners know the scene can just as easily look like this: It takes more than one hard freeze to [...]

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 [...]