My garden has never been more ready for winter

Columbine seedlings in the leaves

Elizabeth Lawrence, the famous southern garden writer, had one for her garden.

So did the writer, Eudora Welty, who spent a lot of time in her garden, fussing over her camellias. She wrote in her gardening letters during World War II it was hard to find a reliable one.

I never thought I'd have one, but I do.

Yes, I have a guy I call to come out and help in

Rocking the bulbs in the lawn

This is a rockery trowel

People ask, "How do you plant bulbs in the lawn?"

I answer, "With a rockery trowel."

They nod knowingly. Of course, they should have thought of using a rockery trowel.

As if they knew what a rockery trowel was.

Show of hands... who knew what a rockery trowel was before reading this post?

A rockery trowel is a trowel with a long skinny head which allows me to

Wildflower Wednesday - Flowers in the Lawn

Pretty little mystery flower in the lawn

I've spent time the last three evenings on my hands and knees and sometimes on my butt planting bulbs for Glory of the Snow,  Chionodoxa gigantia (also known as Chionodoxa lucillia), in my back lawn.

I bought 1,000 bulbs of Glory of the Snow, which doesn't take as long as you might think to plant. I timed my first 300 bulbs.  40 minutes.  Not bad.  

Planting Crocuses in the lawn

Crocuses blooming in the lawn spring of 2012

As garden fairies slept under shrubs nearby, I planted 1,100 Crocus corms, specifically several varieties of Crocus tommasinianus, in my back lawn, the Green Sea.

I like to think that the garden fairies approved of my choice of flowers for the lawn because every time I returned from a break in planting, my gloves, trowel, and trug full of crocuses

What do you see in your lawn?

What do you see in this lawn?

Does the dandelion in the center of the picture bother you? Did you notice that the tips of the blades of grass are a little ragged, indicating that someone needs to sharpen the blade on her lawn mower?

Or did you see how the green the lawn is and jump to the conclusion that it must be a suburban wasteland created by the overuse of lawn chemicals, primarily

Meet me where the clover grows

Meet me where the clover grows, and I'll take you to a place and time when kids happily spent hours looking through the clover patches, hunting for the elusive four-leaf clover.

I'll show you how kids spent an entire evening picking the flowers and carefully tying them together to make bracelets and necklaces and hoping to set a record by making the longest clover chain possible.

Meet where

Dr Hortfreud: On Mowing in the Rain

Hello, Carol

Hi, Dr. Hortfreud. It's been awhile, hasn't it?

Yes, Carol, but I sense you need a session with me now.

Oh, yes, I do. Always.

Well, it looks like rain, so why don't we meet in the sun room around the house plants.

Oh no, Dr. Hortfreud, I would like to have a mowing session with you. Besides, if you look to the west, it's sunny out.

But if you look to the east, Carol, it's

Troy-Bilt TB675 EC Straight Shaft Gas String Trimmer Review & Giveaway

Troy-Bilt TB675 EC Straight Shaft Gas Trimmer

THE REVIEW:

Our intrepid gardener and lawn keeper chose Sunday morning to head out to the garage to check out the new 4-cycle gas powered string trimmer and JumpStart engine starter sent to her by Troy-Bilt to use and review.

She tore open the box and with the aid of one flat-head screwdriver and one Phillips-head screwdriver, put the handle and

You can't stop me!

Magnolia stellata

It occurred to me this week.  When the star magnolia (Magnolia stellata) blooms, it is generally time to mow the lawn.

Now that I know this, I won't have to actually look at the lawn to decide when I should mow it for the first time. I'll just mow whenever the magnolia blooms.

I'm kidding.

I will look at the lawn to decide if it is ready for the first mowing.  But I won't

Plan now for Easter 2014 blooms

I watched. I waited. I held my breath. I hoped.  I prayed. I planned for crocuses to be blooming in the lawn on Easter.  I planned for sunshine and warm-enough-to-be-outside temperatures.

And lo and behold, there were crocuses blooming in the lawn for Easter and it was sunny and around 60F when we started the big egg hunt.

I love it when a plan for the garden works out just like I planned it

Wildflower Wednesday: A plan for my lawn

I have a plan for my lawn.

I have a plan to cultivate it as  a cut meadow filled with various flowers, including some wildflowers, each with its own season.

I started working on my plan a few years ago by planting crocus corms directly in the lawn, phase one.  Two years ago, I think I planted around 400 corms. This past fall, I planted a little over 1,000 corms.

It sounds like a lot of

Win A Fiskars® Momentum™ Reel Mower!

Win A Fiskars® Momentum™ Reel Mower!

This spring I’m looking forward to mowing the lawn more so than ever before because I have a new Fiskars® Momentum™ Reel Mower in my garage, ready to bring out for the first mowing of the season.

I recall fondly the final mowing of the season last year, my first time to mow with this new reel mower. What fun that was!

Soon, in just three or four weeks,