Serenity in the Garden

The French have long understood that vegetable gardens can be places of beauty. They located their traditional  potagers , or kitchen gardens, outside their kitchen windows and included vertical structures, flowers, and artistic plant groupings designed for aesthetic appeal.  Flowers look beautiful and attract the all important pollinators to your garden. Read the wonderful article I have linked here for learning how to include beautiful flowers and more in your veggie garden.  Infographic - go here for more

Time to try some luscious flowers in a pot or in the garden....here are some for your consideration: PEONY 'SORBET' ( Paeonia lactiflora ‘Sorbet’) The unusual pink and white 5-7" double blooms of this hybrid are  delectable! The fragrant flowers look amazing in early summer and the handsome foliage turns red in autumn. These bushy plants grow up to 4' tall and require little care. Suitable for any climate and soil type. Space 36-48" apart. Zones:  3-8     Light:  Full Sun to Partial Shade Deer tend to avoid. LOLLIPOP HELENIUM    Helenium puberoleum Round, chocolate-brown flower heads with rustic yellow and bronze highlights provide a bright display that blooms summer and lasts well into autumn. Globe-shaped blooms make a pretty contrast to vertical blades of Iris. Loves sun. Zones:  4-9     Deer Resistant  'BLUSHING SUMMER VALENTINE'  DAYLILY   Bloom Period June-...

Imagine if there were no street names, no names of places, no identification of any kind...our world would be very difficult to navigate. A name is essential - it gives form, meaning, and creates a concept or image for us to attach our thoughts to. A good place name instills good feelings, excitement or anticipation...it has the ability to change our perception immediately.  A flower patch can become 'Mom's Garden' and, in a wink of an eye, the rag tag assortment of flowers is a special place indeed. "I believe in the power and mystery of naming things.... I believe in naming what's right in front of us because that is often what is most invisible. "  Eve Ensler A name is the first step toward making the invisible, visible, toward manifesting.... If you name your idea for a screenplay, well then, there it is...you just have to write it now....or if you name your budding business it makes it much easier to create those business cards (...

Lady's Mantle is a dew catcher This is the time of 'White Dew on the Grass' in Japan Sept 8 - 12 Microseason 43:  白露  Hakuro  (White dew)  Now is when you notice white beads of dew in early morning. They say 'on grass' but I see it on flowers and leaves too.   Dew appears between summer and fall when the temperatures drop during the night and moisture in the air solidifies. A magical time indeed. Like jewels on the flowers - dew drops glisten

The infographic below illustrates some current garden design ideas. It helps to have some visual inspiration. You can spruce up with lights or add an   Indian fire pit  .  This is a fun way to think of something more for your garden:

The best homemade plant labels come from aluminum soda cans. from Greylustergirl blog They are inexpensive, durable, attractive and fun to make. And in the garden their reflective qualities act as rabbit repellents! You can have them dangle on supports ( made from clothes hangers) or tie them with twine on a pot. CUT THE CAN AND ROLL OUT ALUMINUM. Put on your gloves. Use the tip of your scissors to punch a small hole on the side of each end of the can. You can also use a steak knife or screwdriver to get the hole started.  Cut off the top and bottom of the can and discard . TRACE THE SHAPES AND CUT OUT. Next, unroll the metal as best you can and place the metal on a flat but flexible surface, printed side up . A pad of paper, a top of a notebook or a thick stack of newspaper are all good bases. Use a template tool to trace a shape with a ball point pen onto the metal. Press firmly to leave an indentation. Cut with a pair of sciss...

This is from Proven Winners

Tuff Guard Hose wreath  It is that time of year and you want to give wonderful, heart warming gifts to your garden lover friends. You want to find unusual and touching presents that acknowledge who they are and what they are into - not just hand cream. Right? And you don't have a lot of money to spend and you would rather order on line than go crazy in a crowded shopping scene... So,, in that spirit, I am going to suggest some inexpensive gift ideas for your gardening pals...the money limit is  $20. and less  for some fab ideas... the market research is this:   If I want it then they will too. Amazon - Cavallini Papers You can use them as gift wrap or - better yet- frame them or laminate them and place in a suitable location.  Vegetable gardeners would appreciate the fruit and vegie gift papers. Succulent lovers will like this one: And of course mushroom hunters will warm to this gift: For the more prac...

Artist Norm Magnusson lives near Woodstock, New York.   Yes, that Woodstock... Magnusson (see his website,  Funism ) is an artist that uses all media to get his ideas across. (Zig Zag Leaves - Norm Magnusson) In his  'Decorating Nature'  series of art photos (giclee prints - they're for sale) Magnusson paints on or colors pieces of nature, like adding stripes to a fallen leaf, painting a pine cone blue or drawing concentric rings on a stone. He says, (Blue Cone - Norm Magnusson) "We use nature to how we see fit: we strive to bring order to it,  we seek to explain it in a language that doesn’t belong to it,  we try to make it prettier,  we try to make it better,  we try to make it more profitable.  Some efforts succeed, some do n’t."       (amen to that - Jan) (Tree Rock - Norm Magnusson) But Magnusson also says that his art photos are all about beauty, saying, "Beauty ...

Its Halloween!...and you plan to carve the Jack O'Lantern TONIGHT...triangle eyes, triangle nose.....yawn..... What you need is some inspiration! You can find it at the Van Cortlandt Manor located in  my little village of Croton-on-Hudson because we have what must be the world's largest display of carved Jack O'Lanterns...it is called the  Great Jack O'Lantern Blaze . Why do we have such a thing?  Well, Croton is in 'Sleepy Hollow Country' and Sleepy Hollow is the home of the Headless Horseman. It is right down the road from us.  (And he rides through the countryside every Halloween)....thus, we are a natural for Jack O'Lanterns..... That is my opinion as to the reason why we hold it although the website  Things You Should Do  says this: "Blaze’s creative director, Michael Natiello, said the true inspiration for Blaze is the landscape of Van Cortlandt Manor itself.  The event is really a land art instal...

ALERT!   Only 7 more days until the  fabulous Dale Chihuly exhibit at NY Botanical Garden closes : Tuesdays through Sundays, 10 a.m.–6 p.m.  CHIHULY Nights: Every Thursday, Friday, and Saturday through October 2017, plus Wednesday, October 25,  and  Sunday, October 29; 6:30–10:30 p.m.  RESERVE NOW:   https://www.nybg.org/visit/admission/ in the day, as you walk around, you might find this.... This is your last chance to see the immensely popular show - by day or night. I suggest you start in early evening and watch as the darkness brings out the glass sculptures in a way nothing else can. It features 20 installations! In the spotlights, the plants seem to dance along with the art.... That is what I did with my family visiting from Florida. We entered, visited the phenomenal bookstore ( another must for garden lovers) and then walked  the grounds  in the late afternoon light. The sweeping vistas and art co...