A beautiful spring garden begins in the fall.
As the calendar turns to September, the gardens still looks fabulous, but we know the time for their showy displays is limited. Fall is approaching.
I spent a day last week working in the Greenbrier County WVU Extension Master Gardeners Exhibition Garden at the State Fair. I love the fair, and I have so much fun visiting the children who come through the garden.
It bloomed all summer long, and I can remember it like it was yesterday. I would pick the big colorful flowers and hope that my neighbor Dixie would never miss them from her garden.
In the spirit of the Olympics, here is the medal count of my own summer games: Squirrels — 3 gold, Jane — 1 bronze.
Feeling a little frisky this summer? It might have something to do with your herb garden.
When you tell me the theme of your garden is Game of Thrones, you had better believe I am coming to visit. More on that in a moment.
Be forewarned: I think nothing of making traffic slow down so I can get a better look at an interesting garden. My bumper sticker should read, “I brake for gardens.”
I get excited when I pull into the driveway and see an old bucket or box on my porch. I know that a friend has been in their garden dividing plants and has thought of me and the little house on a big hill garden.
It all started one afternoon when I met a young man planting a garden in the most unlikely place. Through the alley, behind the parking lot, and between two buildings — there he was planting hostas and gladiolas bulbs.
Usually, a story has one or two OMG moments. A few unlikely twists and turns that draw you in. Sometimes, a story has all of them.
Summer and water just go together. The ocean, a lake, or a creek — something about being near the water is peaceful.
If you’ve taken a stroll through Davis Park, noticed the plant boxes full of flowers in downtown Charleston, enjoyed the thousand daffodils that covered an entire side of Spring Hill Cemetery, or relaxed on a bench in Ruffner Park, then you have benefited from the quiet efforts of the Kanawh…
Gardens are most interesting to me when my eye travels. It is exciting to look down, across, and up; to see gardening happening at different heights. Climbing plants are an easy way to add vertical blooms to your designs.
Happy birthday, West Virginia!
When I was little my grandfather would say that if a butterfly landed on your arm, you would get a new dress that color. I’m not sure if that was to make me happy or make my mom crazy, but either way, I still love to look for butterflies.
One Friday morning, I played hooky from work, jumped in a friend’s car, and set off on an adventure. We headed to the West Virginia Botanic Garden at Tibbs Run Preserve in Morgantown.
Kanawha County will offer Master Gardener training for individuals interested in increasing their horticultural, gardening, and small-scale food production knowledge and then applying that knowledge as a certified volunteer Master Gardener in service to others.
If perennials are the main course of the garden, annuals are the dessert, the icing on the cake of your floral display. Just like icing, they draw you, creating excitement and interest wherever they are planted.
Mulch has been the topic of the week. It seems everyone I know is mulching. I’m even doing a bit of mulching at the little house on a big hill. For me, it is the quickest and easy way to bring instant curb appeal to your garden.
In my garden and in this written space, I encourage growing plants that will attract pollinators. Birds, bees and butterflies, to name a few. It is good for the environment and good for the garden. Let’s take it a step farther and talk about bee houses.
Here’s an idea: Don’t make mom clean the dinner plates; help her fill the garden with dinner plate-sized flowers instead.
Marco Polo said they have “Roses as big as cabbages.” Why, of course, he was talking about peonies. These glamorous flowers will soon grace our gardens.
The colors of spring are everywhere. Phlox is spilling over garden walls, tulips are blooming, flowering dogwood, redbud trees seem to be everywhere and the azaleas are in bloom. What’s spring in Appalachia without azaleas?
