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Outdoor living at its best.
After moving to my forever home 20 years ago, my love of heirloom garden plants intensified when I purchased a piece of land adjacent to my property and discovered an old species daylily struggling to grow there. The property had once been the home of the "Red, White and Blue" tavern. Built in the early… Continue reading Hemerocallis Dumortierii: An Heirloom Garden Discovery
In my mid-20's I became interested in both hostas and heirloom garden plants. My boyfriend at the time owned his abandoned family home. He told me about a hosta that his late mother had planted there many years before and he encouraged me to dig one up and replant it in my own tiny flower… Continue reading Discovering Hosta plantaginea ‘Grandiflora’: “The August Lily”
Winters in Northeast Ohio can be brutal. A visit to the glasshouse at the Cleveland Botanical Garden will warm your spirit and offer an escape to make you forget the snow and ice-covered landscape outside. The winter show, “Orchid Mania” is held annually. Whether or not you have ever had any desire to grow orchids,… Continue reading “Orchid Mania” at the Cleveland Botanical Garden
You don't like tomatoes? If your only experience with them are tomatoes from the grocery store or the wedges you get in your restaurant salad, well then, I'd have to say that I can't blame you. What passes for a tomato in most places during most of the year is a tasteless fraud with a… Continue reading It’s Time to Plant the Tomatoes! (Even if you Don’t Like Them)
There was an old outhouse on our property when we bought it. This summer, in an effort to save it, my husband put on a new roof and gave the outside a coat of paint. Then I went to work on the inside. It isn't really usable. There is no "hole." But it's a great piece… Continue reading Check out our old outhouse project!
Seven months ago I took and early retirement from my job. After spending a long, cold winter indoors getting acclimated to my new life, I'm ready to tackle some new projects outdoors. Working full time for the last 12 years have left the gardens around our house more neglected than I care to admit. With time… Continue reading Spring Chores in the Garden
The driveway garden was a puzzle. From the day we moved into the house, we had no idea how we were going to address the small grassy area on the street side of our driveway which is backed by a hedge of spring blooming forsythia. Both dry and shady because it was beneath a thick branched… Continue reading The Low Maintenance Garden Experiment: Dry and Shady Driveway Border
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