This book by Neil Lucas has opened up a whole world for me.  I don’t think I ever looked at grass as anything beyond mowing the lawn. But this book has opened my eyes. I didn’t think of rain gardens as an important “garden” until a new local building arranged for small vegetable gardens with some deeper water spots that would save  heavy rains. I didn’t know there was Miscanthus or Feather Reed Grass.  I didn’t know about beautiful  Penniestum grass. But Neil is giving me a chance to learn a lot about Grasses. (more…)

Spring has finally arrived with the beautiful flowers in the Garden.  We begin with the Rose Bed. The Alchemist rose was bred by Benjamin Cant & Sons in1973.  There is a blend of coppery shades and apricot with fragrant flowers. It is about 5 feet tall. (more…)

There is a lot of talk about honey bees in our part of town, but there are 4000 types of bees in the United States. Our friend Cynthia has been working with  two of those bee families – Mason bees and Leaf-cutters. Both of these bees are solitary bees.  Those bees are living on her porch, where my husband and I got to learn something about these bees. (more…)

This horse chestnut tree marks the boundary of our garden. It is majestic!

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On this Garden Bloggers Bloom Day I open with shining gold, but there is more to it.

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The wood poppy has been showing off its golden flowers for a couple of weeks now. It has increased in size since I planted it  four years ago. (more…)

City Rain

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Spring is arriving with some energy. The garden in the back of our house is now joyful and I’m admiring this golden bleeding heart. (more…)

It had been raining, lots of rain,  for 24 hours.  Please notice that we  have managed to keep most of the garden plants out of the water.  Ever since we started our garden we have been bringing good Martin’s Soil home to create raised beds that make it possible to have flowers and shrubs. (more…)

All these ladies are Louise – but in the middle of their titles. First  is Great-Gran (Pat); Gran (Diane); Mom (Trish) and PENNY, a new member of the family. (more…)