Dear Membership Committee of the Society of Gardeners Aged 50 and Over (SGAFO),
As a member in good standing and the president and founder of The Society of Gardeners Aged 50 and Over (SGAFO), I bring before you a petition for the proposed membership of my baby sister who turns 50 years old today. Let's call her Sherry.
Sherry's qualifications include first that she is my sister and secondly,
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Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Showing posts with label family. Show all posts
Lily of the Valley for Christmas
On the surface, the story appears to be that I happened to see some pre-cooled Lily of the Valley pips for sale and decided to order them and give them a try.
But actually the story of how I came to this point of planting Lily of the Valley pips a few weeks before Christmas so they will bloom for the holidays starts way back many decades ago when I was a little girl.
Every Sunday when I was
But actually the story of how I came to this point of planting Lily of the Valley pips a few weeks before Christmas so they will bloom for the holidays starts way back many decades ago when I was a little girl.
Every Sunday when I was
Revealing birds, fairies, and letters
Some gardeners are afraid to plant large shrubs that grow wide and tall. I'm not.
This Snowball Viburnum is a mass of branches and has many suckers around its base. But I leave it in its natural form because it provides cover for the birds in all seasons.
In winter, the lack of leaves reveals just how many birds enjoy the cover of this shrub. When I'm not standing nearby trying to take a
This Snowball Viburnum is a mass of branches and has many suckers around its base. But I leave it in its natural form because it provides cover for the birds in all seasons.
In winter, the lack of leaves reveals just how many birds enjoy the cover of this shrub. When I'm not standing nearby trying to take a
Happy Thanksgiving
Dad's turkey picture circa 1930's
Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.
On this special holiday, I am grateful for family and for my siblings who have graciously bestowed upon me all of our parents' old papers, pictures, and mementos for safekeeping.
I went through some of them yesterday and found this picture of a turkey that my Dad made sometime in the 1930's.
He made it by cutting out
Playing dress up, our thoughts turn to gardening
My sister and I, the sister who does not garden but does a really super job of weeding if she takes a notion to do some weeding, spent some time this morning sorting through old family pictures. As usual, my thoughts turned to gardening, as they always do.
I had forgotten, until I saw these pictures, that I was apparently not always content to dress up Barbie dolls and baby dolls.
I had to
I had forgotten, until I saw these pictures, that I was apparently not always content to dress up Barbie dolls and baby dolls.
I had to
I love to plant the little bulbs...
I love to plant the little bulbs, especially now that I’ve realized how useful my rockery trowel is for planting them. I plunge the trowel into the ground, push it forward a bit and then as I pull it out, I drop a little bulb in behind it, pull it the rest of the way out and then scrape any dirt off the trowel back into the hole.
The rhythm of planting starts slowly.
Plunge, push, pull, drop,
The rhythm of planting starts slowly.
Plunge, push, pull, drop,
Memory Gardens
The last violet of the season
I spent some time cleaning up the vegetable garden earlier today. A slight breeze rustled through the last of the corn stalks as fallen leaves from the nearby grape vine danced across the garden. The remnants of tomatoes I never picked hung from the frost-blackened vines.
I worked crop by crop, pulling out the spent plants and piling them on to the compost pile.
I may garden by myself...
I may garden by myself, but I am never alone in my garden.
When I am working in my vegetable garden, I can feel my Dad standing beside me, admiring the neatness of the raised beds. I'm sure, too, that he is pleased that I still stake my tomato plants, just like he used to.
When I see the asters blooming in the fall, I think of my aunt, who gave me the asters many years ago. She would enjoy
Dear Friends and Gardeners August 30, 2010
Diervilla lonicera
Dear Dee and Mary Ann and Gardening Friends Everywhere,
In 48 hours, give or take, August will be over and it is on to September. Here in Indianapolis, we will remember this as a record setting August – the driest ever with just .37 inches of rain. This beats the record set in 1897 when they measured .47 inches of rain.
This is a far different summer than I thought we would
How's your garden doing?
"How's your garden doing?"
That's usually the first thing I hear when I see my aunt and uncle from the southern part of the state. I don't have to ask "which garden" because I know they are asking about my vegetable garden.
They also have a vegetable garden.
We compare notes. They plant their garden earlier, usually by several weeks. Then they often use a hotbed to get a jump on the season
That's usually the first thing I hear when I see my aunt and uncle from the southern part of the state. I don't have to ask "which garden" because I know they are asking about my vegetable garden.
They also have a vegetable garden.
We compare notes. They plant their garden earlier, usually by several weeks. Then they often use a hotbed to get a jump on the season
The Window Ledge at Hope Blooms
While in Buffalo, NY for Buffa10, I posted a little piece on water features and received an email from one of many of Buffalo’s excellent gardeners, inviting me to see his garden and water feature, which was located across the street from our hotel.
Christopher Voltz wrote,
“I have a garden “Hope Blooms” at The Victorian which has been on Garden Walk Buffalo for six or seven years and
Christopher Voltz wrote,
“I have a garden “Hope Blooms” at The Victorian which has been on Garden Walk Buffalo for six or seven years and
On Mother's Day
A "vintage" card for Mother's Day...
Circa 1966
Found in my mother's files, saved for over forty years. I don't even remember drawing it, but what other Carol M. could there have been?
Happy Mother's Day to all.
Circa 1966
Found in my mother's files, saved for over forty years. I don't even remember drawing it, but what other Carol M. could there have been?
Happy Mother's Day to all.
When A Flower Blooms That You Just Don't Like: Happy Ending
The logistics are a bit complicated, but they involved two twin mattresses, my truck, some passalong hostas, finding a window of opportunity (WOO) to haul the mattresses from my sister-in-law to my sister (in my truck), plus finding time to dig up some hostas I had, recently dubbed the "Martha Hostas" because they originally came from a friend of my sister-in-law's named Martha who passed away
Guest Post: Garden Fairies Discuss HUG Activities
Garden fairies here.
We are garden fairies and we want to discuss the HUG activity, the weeding, that has taken place this spring here at May Dreams Gardens.
But first things first, we would like to mention how much we are enjoying the Dianthus that Carol planted along the edges of the flower beds that border the patio. We garden fairies really like this flower where as before we were not
Red Geraniums and Tomatoes
"Whatcha doing, Dad?"
Planting some peas and onion sets.
"Can I help?"
Sure, just let me finish tilling up the garden.
"Can I make the row?"
Sure, make it right over here by the fence.
"How long should I make it?"
Make it the whole length of the garden.
"How far apart should I plant the seeds, Dad?"
About an inch or so.
"Like this? Now what do we?"
Now we cover them over and tamp
Scarlet Sage
I received some unexpected mail yesterday, a manila envelope from an aunt. Inside the envelope was a copy of a letter my Aunt Marjorie wrote in 2004 with memories of her father, and in particular her recollection as a child of how he spent his last months in failing health before passing away in 1937.
Of course, I did not know him, her father, my mother’s father, my maternal grandfather. I
Of course, I did not know him, her father, my mother’s father, my maternal grandfather. I
Once there was a garden there
Once there was a garden there.
I caught a glimpse of it in the crocuses blooming in the winter-weary lawn.
The garden is gone, for the most part, but I could see the shadows of where it once was. I could tell that at one time those crocus blooms weren't in a lawn but were part of a flower border running alongside the walk-way to the front door, a flower border that someone planted and tended