During our visit our son-in-law took us to view the playing fields, the woodland trails and the new community garden that are a part of Sienna Plantation, where they live. There were no children on the playing fields, but we were stunned by the flock of buzzards enjoying their own game. In this case a dead armadillo. There were over 50 buzzards near the dead animal which did not seem like a very good ratio, but maybe they…
Colleen Plimpton is one of those fortunate people who is smart enough to learn from all the people - and sometimes the animals - who come into her life. In her charming, conversational book, Mentors in the Garden of Life, she tells us about relatives like Aunt Louise and friends like Kathleen, and expert gardeners like Sydney Eddison who have been important to her in life, and in her garden. Each vignette that captures a personality and time ends…
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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"…
Butterfly gardening is becoming very popular. Schools are having their students plant butterfly gardens, and adults can find more than a dozen books devoted to gardening in a way that will attract butterflies to their landscape. Butterfly gardening could just as well go by another name, pollinator gardening. Everyone knows that bees are pollinators, but butterflies along with many other creatures like wasps and bats are important pollinators. Planting a butterfly garden helps support pollinators. Most of us…
We left sunny Houston yesterday at noon, and got into sunny Nashville, but by the time we arrived in Hartford at 6:30 the rain was falling. Our son drove us to Greenfield where our car waited for us at his house. Quick! A few groceries! Quick up the hill. The snow is falling. And still falling this morning. My plan was to plant spinach today, but I guess that will not happen. The only flowers in my view…
Cindy MCOK, lives in Katy which is is not far from Missouri City where my daughter lives. When I told Cindy we were coming to Texas she invited us, my husband, daughter and me, to visit her garden. I thought it would be fun to feature Cindy's garden on Three for Thursday which she started. When we first made plans she said she thought the poppies would be in bloom. And they were! We were still a distance…
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Our trip to Texas had many benefits. One of the first was meeting interesting people on the train ride down. Austrailian Tamma was on her first trip trip to the United States, although she has travelled to many other countries over the years. She was our across-the-hall neighbor on the train and we got to spend lots of time visiting - and sharing meals. She said she is trying to 'eat American' but that it was hard. Americans…
I got to Houston just in time for the Garden Conservancy's Open Garden Days. My daughter Kate (R), Melissa the Houston Garden Girl (center) and I set off to see many beautiful gardens surrounding beautiful houses in some of the historic neighborhoods in the city. I can't show you all 500 photos I took, but I want to give you just a taste of what we saw. More will show up over time. It is azalea season in…