Seen in Seattle

  • Post published:07/25/2011
  • Post comments:5 Comments

As we 74 garden bloggers have toured Seattle we have visited private gardens, public gardens, and semi-public gardens to admire and learn about plants and Seattle's history. Here is a mock orange at the Dunn Gardens. All kinds of lavender everywhere. Bicyclists on their own path. Fabulous fruits at the Farmer's Market. Cherries, peaches, all kinds of berries - vegetables, too. Magnificent trees, towering. Potted plants everywhere, in the gardens and on the street. Fountains in the Mall…

Franklin Land Trust Tour – Here

  • Post published:06/18/2011
  • Post comments:2 Comments

  What is a garden for? It depends on the garden, of course.Vegetable gardens are for feeding us. Herb gardens are for bringing us extra savor and health. Meditation gardens are to give us moments of serenity. Ornamental gardens are to give us pleasure. But all gardens can be shared --- doubling their pleasure and utility, of whatever sort. Sometimes sharing our gardens can also support a noble project.  That is what will be happening in Heath and…

Martagon Lily

  • Post published:06/08/2011
  • Post comments:3 Comments

For the past couple of weeks I have been looking at a budded plant in the Lawn Grove. It seemed to have lily foliage, but  I couldn't remember planting lilies in that spot. And I never found time to go back and check my records for last fall. The other day the buds opened into these beautiful martagon lily blossoms.  But the plant was not quite three feet tall. Is there such a thing as a miniature martagon?…

Record Keeping

  • Post published:05/24/2011
  • Post comments:3 Comments

This is a close up of the old white lilacs that were on our property when we moved here in 1979. They are the earliest of all the lilacs we have and I can usually count on having them in full bloom by the 15th of May.  Not this year. You can see not all the buds are open. But I only know that because keep this blog means I have pretty good records for the past three…

Flashing Flowers

  • Post published:04/05/2011
  • Post comments:1 Comment

During our visit to Missouri City Anthony, my 14 year old grandson, volunteered to do a Flash project for my blog. He took four of the flower photos I took during the Garden Conservancy's Open Days Tour and at Cindy's garden in Katy and turned them into a twirling delight. You can see each photo 'full size' by clicking on the thumbnails at the bottom.  If only he lived closer we could collaborate more often. [swfobj src="http://www.commonweeder.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/Grannys-Picture-Viewer1.swf" align="left"…

My Logo

  • Post published:03/25/2011
  • Post comments:5 Comments

When I began my blog, slightly more than three years ago, I had just finished reading The Uncommon Reader, a delightful short comic novel by Alan Bennett.  I am a reader and understood the reference to Virginia Woolf's Common Reader essays so the phrase 'common reader' was whirling around in my brain  when I thought of that most common of weeds - the dandelion.  I thought the dandelion was a perfect flower to refer to me; I am…

Scrappy Art

  • Post published:02/22/2011
  • Post comments:2 Comments

My father was a machinist. For many years he worked for my grandfather, Algot Larson who invented the Unique window balance, a device that replaced the ropes and pulleys that were used at the time to open and shut windows. My father's avocation was astronomy. He was a member of the Amateur Astronomer's Association. He often attended meetings at the Hayden Planetarium in New York City where he learned to make his own telescope grinding the lens himself.  I remember him melting…

I Am Fascinated

  • Post published:02/18/2011
  • Post comments:2 Comments

After Bloom Day, wanting to preserve the tulip blossoms as much as possible in order to use them Sunday at church, I moved the pot of Pieter de Leur into the sitting room which is very cool. This is where my few houseplants live all winter. The jasmine dries up slowly over the season, but when I cut it back it always revives with the arrival of warm weather. I have been fascinated watching these forced bulbs as…

I Should Have Added Patience

  • Post published:02/14/2011
  • Post comments:2 Comments

This tulip has changed even since I took the photo on Friday but Frank and the tulip look so pretty in the sun I had to include it here. The grassy shoots have no buds that I can see but that pan of Baby Moon daffodils should bloom soon. I hope. When I complained last week about the bulbs I was forcing not responding to the force I kept sending their way I did not menton this Apricot…

Warm Memories

  • Post published:02/11/2011
  • Post comments:2 Comments

With the snow so deep, the temperatures so low, and the winds so brisk I had to take a day to revisit summer in Buffalo and some of the beautiful gardens we toured.  I have a similar arrangement of lilies and beebalm in my garden.  It will be such a joy to see those shoots in the spring. These daylilies enjoyed a deep drink one night in Buffalo.  My Daylily Bank should look pretty good this year, and…