Photographed November 30, 2007 – one very confused, but delicious ripe strawberry. You’d better believe I washed it off and ate it.
Variety: Jewel
Planted: September 2007
My supplier kept the dormant plants in cold storage for the summer, so they arrived in the usual state of bundled roots I’ve always dealt with in spring plantings. The warm [...]

I always grow purple petunias, not because I like them, but because my younger daughter liked them so much when she was small. I think she still favors them, but not with the single-minded exhuberance she exhibited a decade ago. She’s grown now, and she no longer spends summers weeding at my side [...]

They were happy and healthy until the blister beetles came along and chowed down on them. Then the ducks chowed down on the blister beetles…and anything else that looked yummy. Just another challenge in the life of a gardener.

I’ve never grown such lush, happy eggplants before. The huge leaves concerned me at first because I feared I’d been too heavy-handed with the compost this spring and would have all leaves and no fruit. Not to worry. They’re setting fruit now, and still the plants grow and grow and grow. [...]

‘Eglantine’, a David Austin variety of English-style roses. My daughter took this photo in my new flower & herb garden next to the house. This garden is rather sparse now, just half-planted, and with only a couple mature plants. Thus, these blossoms stand out particularly well. The fragrance is heavenly, [...]

Very bad weed! Hundreds of these young burdock plants have appeared in the pasture, the gardens, in full sun and shade. Sure, they look innocent now. And yes, I know the mature roots are edible and even useful in therapeutic preparations. (More about that another day…)
It’s the burrs that cause the problems. They’re often called [...]

Tonight’s sunset provided the perfect close to a great day. Warm breezes, sunny skies, temperatures in the mid-60s, a perfect day for planting. We got the last two bundles of seedlings from the conservation department nursery into the ground — 25 each of Austrian Pine and Norway Spruce. The first of the yellow potato [...]

We’re having a heat wave here, 76 degrees F this afternoon. That brought out the bugs, which made the chickens happy.
I disturbed this Six-spotted Green Tiger Beetle (Cicindela sexguttata) today while planting irises. It’s small, maybe a half inch long, but the metallic green stands out against the bare dirt. It scurried away quickly, [...]

Last week’s armadillo adventure ended when it dived into this hole. It’s located in a thicket of locust saplings. Between the orchard and the strawberry bed. Now we have holes everywhere. Big holes. Little holes. Something’s going to break a leg stepping into a hole where there wasn’t a hole the day before. So how [...]

Morning glory blossoms line the fence outside my front door, pinks, blues, and this dramatic variety. The garden hasn’t been tended for nearly a year, so these plants are volunteers from sturdy self-seeders. The original gardener chose well. Gorgeous flowers, sturdy self-seeders, drought tolerant, and much loved by the hummingbirds.
Photo by LauraP