Garden Mavens' Blogs

Garden Woes

I've been working so hard on moving my yarn shop and expanding and renovation the new location, I haven't had any time or energy to garden. I have no idea how any of my plants are doing in the vegetable garden. I haven't trimmed my shrubs and my ivy needs to be reigned in. I hope I'll have some time to get out and at least look around, but it doesn't seem that time will allow for it. I am afraid that I've missed my black raspberry harvest and the birds may have feasted on all of them.

Heat Wave

Like most of the country, we are in the midst of a brutal heat wave. Make sure you water your plants well.

Meadowsage

Here is a photo of my meadowsage plant. The flowers were beaten down by a large rain storm but still look pretty. I don't think this plant is edible like garden sage. It is a pretty perennial.

Lilies

Look at all the lilies! I'm so happy. They are beautiful and abundant with more buds yet to open. The bulbs seem very happy in this location.

Community Garden

I've decided to give my local community garden a try. This is the first year for the community garden, so I thougth it might be fun to get involved from the start. My application for a plot will be in the mail today!

Back Home

I am back home after house/pet sitting for ten days. It is so nice to sleep in my own bed. The suburb where I live is starting a community garden. I think I'll give it a try. They appear to be fairly strict about the use of chemicals, which I appreciate. I'm not sure how large the plots are or where exactly the garden will be located but I do know they have contracted to have the area fenced and applications are now being sent to interested gardeners.

Unpredictability

One thing I really like about my yard and garden is the fact that I never know exactly what will appear or where it will appear. Oh sure, some of the plants are always in the same place, but some "wander". Take these forget-me-nots. I originally planted them some years ago in a bed in the back yard. Over time, they have abandoned the bed and moved into this sideyard flower bed. They also appear in the grass in the backyard. They are cheerful little blue flowers that I love. There aren't too many truly blue flowers, but these are pretty close.

Robin's Nest

Not sure if you'll be able to see it, but the weeping cherry tree in my next door neighbor's yard has a robin's nest in it. Every time I open my front door, the poor thing gets spooked and flies away. I can't tell how many eggs are in the nest. I don't want to get too close and have the bird abandon the nest. I'm sure I'll hear the little ones squaking for food in the coming weeks.

Inspiring Information

We are in the midst of a huge thunder storm in northern Ohio as I write this. The sky became very dark and is now pouring rain along with the great sounds and sights a thunderstorm brings. I feel very lucky to be snug and safe in my home. I usually don't talk much about television programs on this blog, but I saw two programs on PBS this past week that were informative, extremely alarming and inspiring. One was on POV called Food; a documentary about how our food is produced (Monsanto should be ashamed). The other was on Independent Lens called Dirt; a documentary about how dirt is the basis of life (coal mining companies should be ashamed). If you get the opportunity to view either of these programs, hopefully, they will inspire you to become an even better steward of the earth. Plant a garden!

Sounds of Spring

As I was uploading the photo of some daffodils I cut and brought into the house, I saw a little brown and white wren land on the rail of my deck. It started chirping so loudly you would have thought a much larger bird was creating the sound. I love the sounds and scents of spring - everything fresh and new.

Spring!!

We have been graced with some incredibly warm, beautiful weather this April! I was able to plant some greens in my garden last week. Everthing is blooming. Even the leaves on the trees are opening. My cherry tree is in full bloom. It seems a bit early for it all, but it has been lovely. My holly plants are blooming. If anyone knows what variety holly this is, please let me know.

AAAHHHHH!

Spring is here. It seems a bit early, but we are not complaining. The weather has been very warm and I even have what appears to be a rutabaga growing in my vegetable garden. The photo shows a little white violet-like flower that is all over my backyard. I believe it is wild ginger. It is one of the first wildflowers that appears in the spring and one of my favorites. My self-pruning trees were very busy. I spent the morning cleaning up after them. It is good to get out and work in the yard a bit.

Windy

I have branches everywhere as the result of some extremely windy days. One silver maple in my backyard is a "self-pruning" tree so there are multiple limbs down from it along with black walnut branches and some cherry branches. It's too wet outside to clean-up so they will have to wait. This morning, I glanced out the back window and though I saw a blue grocery sack moving around the grass with the wind. Upon a second look, it turned out to be one of the largest, most vibrantly colored blue jays I've ever had the pleasure of seeing. The spring birds are back and are tweeting their presence. Planting time is getting closer by the day!

Mowing

Some of my yarn shop customers were talking about their neighbors who have already started cutting their grass. This seems a bit optimistic to me, not to mention premature. My grass has not started to grow yet, thankfully. Mowing will commence too soon, as far as I'm concerned. I love spring and summer and fall but I don't care to mow at all. It's a chore I could easily live without. We have a lovely introduction to spring so far here in northern Ohio. The weather has been warm and sunny. My crocuses are smiling brightly around the base of my black walnut tree and my pussywillows are open!

Beware The Ides Of March

So Shakespeare warns us! Not to worry. Spring is on the way. I can hear the spring birds tweeting away outside, and they aren't on Twitter! My pussy willow and crocuses are in bloom. We had a wonderful week of sun and warm temperatures that melted the snow. It is cold today, but not cold enough to freeze. My daffodils are coming up, too. It won't be long until we can get out and dig in the vegetable garden!

Snow

My entire neighborhood looks like a winter wonderland. It's quite lovely. More snow is forecasted for the coming week. March: in like a lion this year! Hopefull, the "out like a lamb" portion of that saying will hold true this year. I've been wanting to cut some pussywillow and forsythia branches to force blooms indoors, but there is so much snow, I can't get to the plants.

Sunshine

The sun has been brightly shining the last few days here in northern Ohio. Much of the snow is melting and evaporating. I'm starting to hear the spring birds tweeting. I'm sure the sap is flowing in the maple trees and baseball spring training camps are opening. Spring, and back to the garden - not far off!

Snow

It has been snowing here on a regular basis. It is lovely snow; light and fluffy. Quite pretty but I am starting to feel the cold. I need some warm weather so I'm sharing a photo of my potted impatients on my deck from last summer. It warms me a bit and hopefully, will warm you as well. Happy St. Valentine's Day!!!

Cabin Fever

It is around this time of year that some folks start to get what we affectionately call "Cabin Fever". They just want to get out of the house! It has been very cold the last few days. Friday night, we had a howling snow storm - very windy. We are expecting more snow tonight although today and yesterday have been very sunny - cold, but sunny. My backyard is lovely - long shadows over prisitne white snow. The photo is from my garden last year. A bright orange reminder of spring to come. I think it is just about time to cut some pussy willows and forsythia to force indoors. I'll think about doing that when it gets just a tad warmer.

Survey

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January Thaw

I've been absent from my blog for a while. Sorry loyal readers. Busy with holiday events! Garden Maven Colleen and her husband, Eric visited over the Christmas holiday so we spent some fun time together along with Colleen's brother, Brion (my son the attorney!). For a while, we were under snow. Beautiful, fluffy style snow. The type of snow that makes you fall in love with the stuff. Right now, we are in the midst of a January thaw. The January thaw is an annual event, although this year's thaw is odd in that it has been long and warm. Today, the forecast is for 50 degrees. Odd for January in northern Ohio. No snow (or freezing temps.) until next week. That means we've been in the thaw for close to 3 weeks - also odd. The photo is of a forsythia bush in my backyard that actually belongs to Garden Maven Colleen. Not sure how she's going to take it anywhere - maybe some cuttings will do. It's a lovely thing - bright yellow in the spring, green in the summer and pretty foliage in the fall as the photo shows. Forsythia are great for forcing blooms indoors. Perhaps I'll go cut some today and start that process. This is the time to snuggle up with your seed catalogs and start dreaming and planning your garden for 2010!

Cotoneaster

My cotoneaster shrubs finally let go of their leaves but look at what a colorful treat they were during the fall. Cotoneasters are great shurbs. They take well to simple pruning once a year, offer tiny pink blooms in the spring, shelter for little birds, wonderful color in the fall and red berries all winter long.

Leaves

Yesterday, I raked the leaves in my backyard into my vegetable garden to provide a wonderful winter mulch. In the spring, the leaves will have composted enough that I can dig them into the garden soil. I've been doing this for years and the results are a wonderful garden soil that is light and fertile. The photo shows my oak tree clinging onto its leaves. I love this time of year. I love to hear the leaves crunching under foot. I love to hear the leaves clinging to the branches rustling in the wind. I love to see the critters in the yard scurrying around in preparation for the winter to come. Lots of folks complain about the weather and the season this time of year. The skies get gray and the air chills. I love it. It's all part of the cycle and I'd hate to live in a place without it.

Allysum

This allysum appeared in my garden in September. In years past, I've taken allysum from my flower boxes on the front porch and planted them in the garden in the fall when I clear out the annual. Sometimes, if I'm lucky, they winter over, as they have here. It's a very gratifying feeling when this happens.

Fall

We've been having a bit of wonderful fall weather. Cool, sunny, breezy with some colorful leaves still hanging around. I love to walk in the leaves and hear them crunch under my feet. My garden is still producing some chard and collards and a few flowers since we haven't had a frost. I have a white maple and an oak in my backyard that still have leaves in glorious colors. The maple leaves are a sunshine yellow and the oak is a bronzy red. Spectacular!

Happy Halloween

I saw this fellow crawling around my garden last week and thought he'd make a good Halloween blog entry. Yuck! I do not like bus very much at all, especially big ones like this. Have a safe and happy Halloween!

Yellow

The trees around my home and neighborhood are now in peak color! My sassafras trees turn this incredibly bright yellow color and then slowly fade to a burnt orange color before dropping off the tree and falling to the ground. My silver maples turn rellow and red and I have an oak that turns a bronzey-orange color. It is all spectacular!

More Nuts

The walnuts are almost all down from the tree. I am sooooo grateful for the nut collector Garden Maven Colleen gave me for Christmas. We are having some Indian Summer weather this week - my favorite! It's time to clean up the yard and garden to prepare for winter.