LX87I3UQ8U16762z13P4 ..read more

Hello all,  I think of you often and hope you're doing well.  It's been a while since I posted and there have been some changes in all of our lives. Coming back to Blogger after all this time, I wondered if I'd remember how to do this.  The tools here have changed a bit.  If you're reading this, I somehow figured it out.   Sometimes, in the midst of turmoil, there comes a ray of light that lightens one's spirit.  Just before Christmas, one such ray of light came in the form of a mystery in my mailbox. I didn't recognize the name or address of the sender lis ..read more

At the top of a back staircase in our house this variegated sansevieria has lived for the last five years, requiring little care and growing happily. A year or two ago, I decided to let it have a vacation outside. However, it got placed in a spot with a little too much light and wasn't acclimated properly so it suffered.  I brought it in after only a few days, mad at myself for such foolishness.  During the last year or so it's struggled a bit and something that found the pot outside ate a few dents in the sides of a couple of leaves.  Maybe it got over watered but recently it decided to fall ..read more

It's spring break and for the first two days, we had blue sky and temperatures in the sixties.  Perfect weather for playing in the garden but I spent far too much of it inside doing nothing.  The clouds predicted for the rest of the week will motivate me to go out and play. Wednesday Vignette is hosted by Anna at Flutter and Hum.  Click here to join the party. The garden is waking up for the year so I'd better get out there and tidy up a bit!  How is your spring gardening going so far ..read more

In a Vase on Monday is hosted by Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.  Do click over to her blog to see her arrangement this week and to find link to those of other participating bloggers. It's April Fools' Day so what better way to celebrate than with a bit of whimsy in the form of a couple of cat  containers made by Cindy Jenkins?  Tall kitty got a couple of Dianthus, some Primroses, a Tillandsia, and a few branches from the Coral Bark Maple. Short kitty got some pansies and foliage from Dicentra formosa. Now, what should we name these little kitties ..read more

Snowdrops and crocus are finished, hellebores continue and, with the advent of warmer weather, new leaves are popping up everywhere.  Now, if I could only remember where I planted those tulips last fall.  Oh well, if they lived, they'll bloom one of these days. Let's take an after-work stroll around to see what's new. Impatiens omeiana 'Silver Pink' Podophyllum 'Red Panda' Magnolia time! Begonia pedatifida Acer palmatum Yellow violets Peony 'Coral Charm' In the greenhouse, clivias are putting on  a nice show.  I have several rhipsalis that are all different but were all sold with a labe ..read more

Have you ever been so overwhelmed by all the spring tasks that need doing in your garden that you simply run away from it?  What better place to run than a nursery? I have this in my garden but it hasn't achieved this grand size.  You may recall a post last week featuring this noxious weed in a hanging pot in my garden.  What can I say, that golden color seduced my eye. Lots of gorgeous hellebores but I already have enough.  Some cool plants for inside as well.  Been there, have that but isn't it beautiful.   Fabulous Agave 'Blue Glow' and planter combination.   Gold variegation was spea ..read more

Wednesday Vignette is hosted by Anna at Flutter and Hum.  Click here to join the fun.  There will come soft rains and the smell of the ground,And swallows circling with their shimmering sound; And frogs singing in the pools at night,And wild plum-trees in tremulous white; Robins will wear their feathery fireWhistling their whims on a low fence-wire; And not one will know of the war, not oneWill care at last when it is done. Not one would mind, neither bird nor treeIf mankind perished utterly; And Spring herself, when she woke at dawn,Would scarcely know that we were gone.- Sara Teasdale ..read more

On Tuesdays, Alison at Bonney Lassie encourages us to tell the truth about our gardens by showing areas of them that are not looking great at the moment.  Since my entire  garden all looks great  between 1:00 and 1:15 a.m. on August 12 when it's dark outside, it's always easy for me to find material for TtTT posts.  It gives the phrase point and shoot an additional meaning. The oldest camellia, previously entirely upright, now has splayed trunks.  The one on the far right must have partially broken off to be hanging that low and it'll need to be cut off but why not wait until the blooms are g ..read more

In a Vase on Monday is hosted by the creative and dedicated Cathy at Rambling in the Garden.  Click here to see her arrangement this week and to find links to those of other participating bloggers. The main trunks of the 20 foot inherited camellia bent low in February's heavy snow and some even snapped.  The bush does this every few years when we get really heavy snow and always grows back.  The  Choisya ternata 'Sundance' was also splayed out all over the place requiring it to be cut back. We all have to prune back perfectly healthy plants sometimes but this spring it seems that as soon as ..read more