Playtime in the Garden

Small gardens have to fill lots of different functions in one space. When I originally designed the garden, I wanted it to hold mystery for the children: paths, crowded with plants, that could be entrances into other worlds; a green space to lie down and gaze at the stars or the clouds; fruit, veggies, and herbs to snack on during playtime.

Nora's Sunflower, unmarked seeds from last year

My two girls each have a small 3.5'x4.5' garden box of their own. They pick out the seeds and then are primarily responsible for planting and nurturing the beds. My initial attitude was that they, of course, needed my help and that I would be their teacher and guide. It turns out, they are much better gardeners than I am. Their garden boxes are gorgeous.

When my children had friends over last week, they first had snack on the patio and then went in search of adventure.

They may have been pirates sailing in search of treasure.

Or wild animals hunting prey.

Or simply farmers inspecting their crops.

Whatever the case, they struck gold in Rosie's garden.

Exploring nature, making discoveries, losing yourself in imagination ... and then getting to eat your treasure -- what could be better?

Garden Blogger's Bloom Day - July 2008

It's my first Bloom Day post! In my enthusiasm, I photographed every living thing in the garden. Then I had to cull. Here are the blooms that bring me joy right now. This is how I'm "praying with my eyes" and with my nose in regards to the jasmine and lilies!

I've been received some intense aromatherapy from the white oriental lilies and the jasmine by the patio. The late evening perfume is delicate yet powerfully affecting.

I found a little zinnia poking out of the crocosmia -- when will the crocosmia bloom? Must I wait much longer?

This Pentas was one of the plants I bought when blueberry picking to fill in spots after my manic culling of the ugly. I wonder if it will survive the winter since I'm not technically a zone 8, but some zone 8s winter over for me. It will be interesting to see what happens since I like having it here.




I find playing with the whites and greens so soothing in the mid-summer Virginia garden. When temps rise to over 95 degrees, the variegated foliage of the yucca and the simple whites of the phlox and the hydrangea paniculata are like a tall glass of limeade.

Before we left for our trip, I threw some old Scarlet Runner Bean seeds in the alley by the gate. They are running for sure now! Over the spent astilbe, the roses with black spot, and the struggling clematis. I'm going to do this every year, the spots of red are a nice focal point all the way in the back of the garden.

Rosie is growing these cosmos in her garden. As with the runner beans, these are old seeds from the basement fridge. What an incredible orange color.

The giant rudbeckia are a good 5 feet tall. No staking needed yet. I can't wait for the goldfinches to start flocking.

The globe thistle is fading, but it is still one of my favorite garden plants. Gorgeous in the garden and in flower arrangements, it's worth the staking. Thanks for visiting and hope you enjoy the pictures!

Mid-Summer Mania in the Garden

I love returning from a trip ready to incorporate new discoveries into my daily life. After this trip, I brought home: a newfound love for cultured milk, cloudberries, and black currants; a determination that our family needs to camp more often; and the will to overcome my dislike of hardboiled eggs. I also returned with a more objective perspective on the garden.

The most arresting outcome of this new perspective is that I am actually making changes. I am removing the ugly from the garden. Old scraggly mums ripped up. Blackberry lilies that had naturalized to the wrong places torn out. And the native daylilies banished to the alley.


I am taking back prime real estate. I tucked some perennials and some annuals into the spaces that opened up and I'm just thrilled with the changes.



Why is it that I wasn't ready to act during October, November, or February? Why am I full of executive energy now that it's the worst time to transplant?* I should be simply weeding, watering, and deadheading.

And to top it all off, I've decided to transplant ... hydrangeas. Hmm. Now let me see, prudent? I think not. (However, I felt a bit vindicated after reading Susan Harris' admission that she also will give in to the urge to transplant during mid-summer.)

Here are the hydrangeas in the spot where they get full sun (they didn't when I planted them, but a neighbor cut down some trees and now, sun).

One has been moved (I'm watering it often with a soaker hose) and the rest will go soon.

The spot will become full of native wildflowers and grasses. I'm combing through the book Wildflower Gardens and hope to have something spectacular here next year -- full of mid-summer beauty, bees, and butterflies. Maybe something good will come out of my mania ...

*Full Disclosure: I was transplanting then. I just never stopped. I can't stop. I'm always moving things, ripping out, tucking in ...

Reflections on Norway

I have so many half-formed posts from our trip and also from the return home. There's been so much action in the garden! I was gone for two weeks and 3 days but by the look of the garden, you'd think I was Rip Van Winkle and away for 20 years! I will try to intersperse Norway posts with current garden posts ...

Norway, Southern Norway anyway, had previously suffered from a dry spring with wildfires in the countryside. Our arrival seemed to invite a break from this -- it rained off and on almost the entire trip. And it was cold. Long sleeved shirt, polartech, rain jacket, wish-I-had-packed-mittens cold. But when the sun came out? Perfection!




However, we were prepared for anything and I have a deep soulful love and understanding of moody weather (could it be the Irish heritage?). We chose to go to Norway to honor Peter's family roots and to visit with relatives but also to be humbled. Humbled by magestic landscapes and the progressive, innovative Norwegian people. (And also to check out the incredible Norwegian knitting traditions, but that's a post for the other blog!)

I was amazed by the lupines, the lilacs, and the alpine wildflowers. The exquisite plants that thrive in the harshest conditions illustrates what I have witnessed from my counseling experience. What does not kill us makes us stronger and, if we let it, radiantly beautiful.

Jet Lagged

I'm back from Norway. I'll try to post some pictures soon. But I have to post my favorite flower of the trip. If I'm not mistaken, this is a Northern Marsh Orchid. I saw many on a hike in the Lofoten Islands, above the Arctic Circle. Someone please correct or confirm if you know for sure!

I'll Be Back

We're off for Norway! I'll return with (I hope) lots of incredible photos of the awesome Norwegian Wilderness and the very green and civilized Norwegian cities and towns. I'm at my parents' home in Northern Virginia now marking time until our flight from Dulles, trying to keep the girls from going bonkers, and gathering my peace and calm for our flight.

Farewell for now!

I Take What I Can Get

I know it's been a while since my last post -- and I'll admit there hasn't been a lot of gardening here. I've been content with some watering, weeding, and deadheading early in the day and surveying the garden for likes and dislikes in the evening. The rest of my time has been spent finishing up the school year with the kids, completing some knitting projects, and preparing for our family trip to Norway next weekend.

The garden is in a lull right now. The purples and pinks and whites of spring have given way to varying shades and textures of green and lots of yellow. I try to avoid yellow (it makes the summer garden feel hotter to me), but many of the flowers that do well in our hot, sticky summers are yellow or orange. Hopefully, in a few weeks my Costa Rican salvias, Oriental lilies and Russian sage will be providing some respite to the incessant yellow.

I do have a non-yellow spot in the garden -- the hydrangeas. Now, I am not a big fan of the blue. I like a pink or purple hydrangea. In previous years I've added lime to the soil around them in order to get them to tend away from blue but to no avail. One year, when I added lime throughout the summer, I was able to get some purple. When do I add it? How much? I could never quite figure it out and so this year, I did nothing. And look ...

Macrophylla Buttons N Bows

The blooms start off white pink,...

move to pinky/purple,...



then settle on blue.

I'll take it. I'm not sure if my pictures capture the pretty variations of color, but I quite like them.