I love the quiet of winter and stillness of it all. The cold and rain forces us inside, pleading with us to slow down. Yet in between rain showers there are signs of late-winter life and a hint that spring is closer than we might think. You can find varieties of heaths and heathers to bloom at anytime of year. The ones on our homestead bloom from late
Flowering Perennials for Clay Soil
Clay soil doesn’t have to mean your garden is destined to be anything less than amazing. In fact, there are so many great plant options that I’m doing a whole series this week on flowering perennials, shrubs and trees for clay soil. I wrote a recent post about ways you can improve your clay soil structure by adding organic ingredients like compost, mulch and sand. While that’s
Yes! Spring!
To my dearly beloved Spring, I say yes! Yes! A thousand times yes! Welcome to my garden, Spring. I have missed your clean smell after a heavy rain. I have missed the lushness of your flowers. I have longed to see real live tulips once again greeting me after a long day at work. The currants are glowing with yellow flowers that will turn into
Fall DIY Wedding Flowers
Weddings are celebrations of love – not just for the person you are marrying, but also for the people you love invited to witness it. With that in mind, I was honored to be asked by my mother to do the flowers for her late fall/early winter wedding. It makes the celebration that much more special to have it come together with the help of
Fall Plantings
Fall is a great time of year to plant new trees and perennial shrubs for two big reasons: it gives your plants several months to work on establishing roots and there are all kinds of crazy deals right now as nurseries close out their summer stock. Just be sure to get your new purchases in the ground well in advance of your first hard freeze,
Awakening Garden
April has stirred the garden to life and I wanted to share some of those signs of beauty with you this morning. Of course there is a lot to be done this season, but this moment in time reminds me that there is a lot to cherish as well. By June we will be swimming in currants! Both red and black, our many currants shrubs
Time to Wake Up
It’s still pretty grey in Portland in late February, but a careful eye in the garden shows signs of spring at every turn. Here are some promises of spring I am noticing in the garden. Our flowering quince shrubs have buds at the brink of opening. Quince will mostly set fruit on woody stems developed in the previous year. As much as I love indoor
Winter Blooming Witch Hazel
It’s the beginning of a new gardening season and already I see blooming plants that I wish I could make room for in my garden. On a recent afternoon, I took a tour of my favorite local nursery to admire their many varieties of winter blooming witch hazel. You will generally find three varieties of witch hazel: the North American native called Hamamelis virginiana, the
May in Review
A look back at May shows a lot of life and budding fruit on the homestead. This is a photo-heavy post of the spring sights I have been enjoying: flowers, veggies and Baby Junebug! My favorite spring flowering bulbs, Allium giganteum, came out in full force. The purple petals are fading away leaving what looks like a green pincushion behind. They will dry out and