Fluffy Flowers

Gardening Gen X & Y

Recently, there was a lot of discussion over at Apartment Therapy about gardening Generation Xers & Yers. Since my gardening lovin’ soul fits squarely in the Gen X category, the article really got me thinking.

Gen X & Gen Y are terms used to define a type of American population with the intention of selling them consumer goods. One point of the AT article was to establish a better understanding of gardening Xers & Yers in order to identify consumer needs that can be addressed by the retail industry. Like many of the post responders, I don’t often find products targeting my generation out in the retail garden world.

I tried to garden in several different apartments when I was a young, poor college student. Because I was a novice gardener, nearly all of these endeavors ended in failure of one type or another. One apartment will always be memorable because of all the potted plants I’d lovingly cared for that smashed onto the parking lot. I had them on a large rickety dumpster dived plant stand that decided to collapse. Another second floor corner apartment stands out in my memory because of the mean note from the landlord about the “bugs” they sprayed in my compost bin. The note bade me to get rid of them immediately. Gardening life ain’t easy when you’re young and living in apartments!

Gardening Gen X & Gen Y folks and wanna be Gen X & Y gardeners are out there. If retailers want to know what products to produce to target them then they’re going to have to do a little digging :)

First of all, what are the characteristics that define Gen X & Y? For me they include:

• Limited time
• Little money
• Environmentally conscious
• Technologically savvy
• Creative desires
• Mobile

Hopefully, retailers and product developers will keep these in mind when developing gardening products and selecting products to sell in their stores. I've written about a few situations where retailers and others might find opportunities to cater to the gardening needs of Xers & Yers.

College Students

I was a good student when I was at college. I was trained to study the rules and expectations, to follow all the recommended procedures and to come away successfully completing the task by delivering a polished result culminating in an "A" grade. The fact that following recommended gardening practices may still result in failure was a shock to my student psyche!

Seeds that don't sprout, blossom end rot, and bug infestations are blows that disappoint in a debilitating way both mentally and financially. Students cannot always afford to go out and buy another set of plants, pots, etc. if something goes wrong with their product investment. And having a community of gardeners surrounding them, or at the very least, someone in cyberspace to go to when some sort of horticultural setbacks hit, is essential to helping that novice gardener learn from the experience and ease them into lifelong gardening rather than someone who tried gardening and failed. Learning through trial and error is against most students’ training. They are not expecting to fail.

What Colleges can do to help student gardeners & gardener wannabes:
 
Transforming some of the campus land into a free community garden. Plots should be in varying sizes so students won’t get overwhelmed by taking on the responsibility of a large plot which may turn into yet another responsibility to dread. Because of the transient nature of student life, their community garden plot becomes a permanent gardening space potentially for all four years of their education.  Various programs via the community garden can help students such as garden mentors, free seedlings in exchange for work on the food bank garden plot, etc. Make the community garden a social space with picnic tables and chairs so student gardeners can hang out with each other. This makes a cheap entertainment destination for cash strapped students.

Start an herb garden with students nearby the dorms & student housing. Often student housing has some sort of cooking facility. Teach them to grow easy herbs and peppers to dress up their cheap pizza.

Sponsor a “Grow Flowers for Your Valentine” event where students learn how to force bulbs to bloom in time to give to their Valentine.

Retailers could you work with Colleges to sponser programs or offer students discounts on your products? Think outside the box.

Mobility

When I was in college and for about five years afterwards, I moved a lot. Those moves turned me into an expert box packer. I could also fill up any vehicle with boxes leaving no gaps between them. I credit hours of Tetris for this skill. One thing you can absolutely count on about Gen X & Y is the fact that they are mobile.

This lack of a permanent place to call home means that either our gardening is done in pots or we must leave behind plants that are in the ground. I recall one particularly stressful move where the moving guys said only a couple of plants could fit in the truck. I could have cried. The rest would have to be left behind, given away to some unknowledgeable plant friend who would likely kill it within six months. A sad end for the plants that I lived with and loved!

What we mobile Gen Xers & Yers need:

Information about how to move our plants. Websites, magazine articles, books, apps, whatever, but some sort of info about how our plants can survive the move. I need answers to questions like:

• Should I cut the tall stalk back before trying to transport it? Will that kill/maim my plant? How long will it take to grow back?
• How long can my plant go without watering in the back of a Uhaul? Is there any way I can set up a self watering system for the roadtrip?
• How can I move a plant living in the ground? Can I just dig it up and stick the roots in some grocery sacks for the move? Do I have to plant it in a pot?
• How long can my plant survive the heat/cold and darkness of the Uhaul?
• What should I do with my plant when I get to my new home?
• How do I keep my clay pots from breaking in the move?

Please garden writers, pretty please with sugar and cookies on top write about how to move plants. Create a website that has a searchable index with how to move particular kinds of plants. Write about how to help our plants survive and thrive in the new space. This information will make us better gardeners.

Product developers, you know you can come up with some products for packing, moving, and keeping alive plants to sell to the perpetually mobile.

We need more community garden spaces so Xers & Yers can move apartments and not have to worry about moving their gardens. Their community plot becomes a consistency in their lives where not much steadiness may exist.

Create a How to Take Care of this Plant E-card website. Sometimes you have to leave your plants behind. Would love to see a website with info on how to take care of the plant, like an e-card you can send to the friend that you leave your plant with. The card contains info on plant needs (light, water, etc.) and how to take care of it. Should also be space for any special notes you’d like to add to these care instructions as well as a space to provide the plants history. Personally, I’d love to know where the plant came from and the chain of events that led to my ownership of it.

There is a lot more that can be said about gardening Gen X & Y folks but I'll leave those thoughts for antoher day.

more garden tour

These are photos from May's garden tour.

This garden was an utter delight to visit.

Notice that groovy tree house over on the far right?

Here's a closeup of it from the other side. Isn't it totally awesome?!

These were some mighty active fish.

And pretty huge too.

Now this grape arbor looks like one that would have a lovely breeze blowing through.

And how about that awesome view?!

There were delights at every turn in this garden.

classical garden

Believe it or not the following garden tour photos are from the same home as yesterday's diverse collection of potted plants. But the rest of the garden was nothing at all like what greeted visitors at the door.

Enter through the wrought iron gate...

...and find an entry way...

...that leads to a lengthy covered porch...

 

...with views of a wide lawn.

 

There are a couple of different ways to go...

 

...and several pretty flowers to see...

 

...along with beautiful outdoor architectural features.

 

Pretty archway and fencing.

 

Sunshine flowers :)

I love the green trees as backdrops.

 

Delightful buds.

 

Another archway to the pool.

 

Doesn't this look fabulous on a hot summer's day?

Looks like they're just getting started with their box trimmed hedge.

Pretty urns.

 

Pretty fountain in the middle.

courtyard garden

I'm quite a bit behind but here are a few pretty pictures from last month's garden tour.

I loved that this very formal house...

 

...had a delightfully informal front door courtyard.

 

It was all prettily packed with plants in oodles of different pots.

 

So pretty!

 

And I do love dog statuary :)

Garden Tours

 

Last weekend I went on the Macon Secret Garden Tour. I only got to three of the five gardens this year but they were all delightful and I plan to share them with you soon.

 

I also got to attend one of Tara Dillard's lectures where I learned all sorts of interesting things about garden design.

And if you want to see the photos from last year's tour you can check them out here, here, here, here, here, and here.

red blooms

I figure y'all didn't get enough beautiful blooms yesterday so I thought I'd throw out the roses blooming in my side yard.

Oh, but first a quick shot of kitty cat Mr. Slashables who didn't want to pose much for the camera.

Once again I can not take credit for these beauties as they were already here when I moved in and I haven't given them the anything to eat or drink. I did place the trellis behind them to decorate their space, does that count?

Oh, and here is Mr. Slashables hiding from me in the tall grass in the neighbor's yard. Master of disguise that one!

These red roses are even more beautiful in person and they smell nice too. They're a delight to see in the side yard after rounding the corner of the house.

what's blooming?

Lucky the Cowdog and Slashables cross each other's path in the front yard. There are some roses blooming just out of range of this photograph to the far right, behind the crepe myrtle tree.

We had lots of rain this week and the roses are opening up.

Stunning aren't they? I can't take credit for these beauties as they were already here when I moved in.

But they certainly are beautiful!

I'm not entirely sure Slash cares either way though!

funny garden signs

I went on the Macon Secret Garden Tour this weekend. Oodles of photos to come but for now enjoy these super funny garden signs.

It was prettier in the catalogue. Yeah, I think this sums up my gardening style!

I don't remember planting this. This will probably be me in a few more years!

I tried, but it died. Um, yes, welcome to my gardening world!

Treva's garden

This has been quite a strange year for my annual spring fever. Usually around this time I get caught up in the cultivated nature hoopla for only a couple of weeks. But this time it seems to be lasting a whole lot longer. I suspect it's all this wide, blank suburban lawn staring up at me through the mullioned windows. Or maybe it's just that I finally have the time, space, and energy to create some magic. Funnily enough though I haven't taken many pictures of the developments. Sorry about that! I can't even promise I will be better. All I can think when I head out into the yard is about looking and doing. All thoughts of my beloved camera slip from my mind. But I did manage to capture a delightful set of photographs of a private garden I can only dream of aspiring to. My sweet mother in law kindly arranged a private tour of her friend and neighbor's garden. Treva's garden was an inspirational private suburban wonderland!

Now how about this for a front yard? Not too much grass to mow, eh? Apparently this is the only grass on the entire property!

But I assure you that there was all sorts of flora and fauna!

Treva has been gardening in this spot for quite a few decades so most of the plants and trees have reached mature size. And what I truly loved was how she wasn't afraid to pack them all in! Could you even guess that this photo is standing in a typically sized suburban backyard?

Treva is still adding new plants and flowers and this Knock Out Rose is a stunner in our horribly hot south.

How sweet is this pretty lady taking a reading break? That's my mom in law, Mary. You may have seen her garden before.

There were still a few camellia blooms hanging on but the big show for them was in February.

Ah, finally we meet the gardener! Treva was so full of absolutely fantastic garden knowledge that I felt like I should throw my camera down and take out a pen and paper. I learned so much that day and enjoyed seeing such a well loved garden.

Oh, here is some of that fauna I promised you. Mighty cute, eh?

Years ago Treva decided that she needed more gardening room but moving wasn't an option. She was trapped on a small in town lot. Did she give up her need for more space? No way! She and husband Bruce bought the house next door. They promptly redrew the property line and rented the second house out. Now she has twice the gardening space, isn't that fabulous?! Perfectly at home in the second lot garden is this bird girl statue replica from the cover of the infamous book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil (later made into a movie with the amazing Kevin Spacey and adorable John Cusack).

An old fashioned favorite and the state flower of Georgia, Confederate Rose. Treva tells me that this wild, thorny beast may be dying out in the wild.

I adore the garden rooms that Treva has created within this space. This rustic archway is an awesome divider that actually makes the space feel bigger than it is. I really like to see these types of photographs that give you some sort of idea of the layout of the garden. But there is no way I could capture all the nuance of this delightful garden.

But I certainly did try! Here is one of the amazing irises that my mom in law oos and ahs over.

Getting back to the garden rooms idea for a moment, look at the photo above. Notice how the boxwood is grown in a horseshoe U shape and the angel statue is tucked away inside. There are several of these surprising discoveries along the paths in this garden.

Very pretty nearly blooming spiderwort. Treva assures me they will take over if not cut back. But she also assured me that oak trees would take over the world if we let them!

Hey, here's some more of that super cute fauna for you. We ran across him sleeping under one of those horseshoe boxwoods then he decided to come along with us.

This courtyard is actually one of the first parts of the garden that you see when you enter into Treva's garden. But it is was so lovely that I thought it would be a beautiful way to end our tour.

Doesn't this serene space make you want to sit down with a nice ice cold drink and relax a while?

I'm hoping Treva will have us back at the change of season to see her beautiful garden again. But for now it's back out the garden gate we go.

Dr. Ruppel

One of the greatest joys of gardening is finding surprise blooms.

I planted this Dr. Ruppel clematis last year and watered it faithfully. It promptly died. But the other day I was out in the yard, rounded a corner, and there it was. It's blooms have only increased since. I guess it needed time to get comfortable in it's new surroundings before putting on a show.

And the gardening fun continues!

spring fever

 

I've been pretty absent from the online world the past couple of weeks because spring has arrived here in the deep south!

 I've been outside taking stock and gussying up the yard.

I've been working for months toward establishing a large flower bed by the mailbox. There was already a tiny bed there and one lone forsythia bush.

Last fall my sweetie and I hoofed it on down to the big box hardware store and bought some concrete edgers.

I dug out just enough grass to outline the bed and wrestled those jokers into place. That took some work! Then I laid down about nine hundred and forty two pieces of newspaper and covered that over with oodles of compost from our local municipal composting center. I used a huge piece of black plastic over part of the bed to test how effective that would be to kill the grass. And just to keep the neighbors happy I covered that over with a nice fresh layer of pine straw. Goodness knows they probably already think I'm crazy enough with my outdoor antics.:) Anyway, then I let the whole thing sit for a l-o-n-g time.

All of this work was my attempt to organically kill the grass and amend my horrid clay soil for planting. I was actually amazed at how well this worked. All of the grass and weeds were dead. Totally gone. I'm hoping that with continuous mulching no grass or weeds will be able to rebound.

So after months of cold wet weather the temps finally warmed up enough for me to get out there and plant my new bed! But first, a trip to the spring Master Gardener's plant sale and other various and sundry plant nurseries. This is the fun part y'all! I'd spent all winter thinking about and researching which plants might be best for that bed. I figure most of those plants would have to be pretty drought tolerant since the water hose doesn't really reach that far.

Y'all, I have got to say that I am totally pleased with how this bed turned out! This is the largest flower bed I've EVER attempted. I'm looking forward to seeing out it fills out in the next few years :)

Mailbox bed includes:

2 Dahlia Seattle (yellow blooms summer - fall)

2 Dahlia Border Bluesette (pink blooms summer - fall)

3 Fort Hill Creeping Pholox (pink blooms)

3 Encore Azalea Autumn Belle (small pink blooms)

5 Pink Double Knock Out Rose

1 Pittosporum variegated shrub

2 Angel Trumpets (from MIL color unknown)

1 large Iris, can't remember type

a few Irises transplanted from last year's divisions

1 Lady Daylilly

1 Pink Lady Daylilly

1 Peppermint Crinum Lilly

Lots of Daylillies from Master Gardeners sale a couple of years ago. Transplanted them from front flower bed where it was too shady for them.

Still want to add:

oodles of daffodils & muscari

from a couple of sticks to a beautiful Confederate Rose

Y'all know I'm new to this gardening stuff, right? I barely know how to get a plant into the ground. Well, last year about this time we were visiting my mother in law in Dublin, Georgia and I saw the most beautiful blooming plant ever.

It had white and pink blooms on the same beautiful bush! Amazing.

"What is it?" I asked my mother in law.

"Confederate Rose" she responded.

"Wow" said I.

Wow, indeed. "I have to have some of that plant!" I screamed.

My mother in law is a kind and generous woman. She took me at my word and, on a visit a couple of months later, I found three long sticks in a five gallon bucket of water to take home. Three sticks. In a bucket of water. I thanked her profusely and dutifully carried the sticks home where I promptly stuck them on the back porch for about, oh, six weeks or so. I did add water to the bucket periodically.

You see, I had no earthly idea what to do with those darn sticks. How exactly does one deal with three long sticks in a bucket of water? She told me to plant them in the ground but somehow my brain just couldn't process that information. I mean, come on, how do I plant them in the ground? They're sticks! How deep? Where? Then what? You've probably figured out by the myriad of questions that ran through my mind that I was paralyzed with fear. I had no idea what to do!

Y'all can probably guess what happened next. Eventually my mother in law came for a visit to my house and there those sticks were, still in the bucket. I wasn't home at the time, but I heard from my sweetheart that she was none too pleased. Those sticks had to go into the ground. Soon!

Somehow I managed to gather my strength and resolve, along with a spade and that bucket of sticks, and get them planted in the ground. As I stood back to observe my handy work all I could think was, "this can't possibly work". But I spent the rest of the summer dutifully putting water on those jokers every single day. I was determined to make them live but if they did die I certainly didn't want to be faulted for lack of watering.

And then an amazing thing happened. Those sticks started to sprout! Eventually those sprouts turned into beautiful green leaves! It was a miracle I tell ya. Through out all of this sprouting period I dared not hope that the sticks would produce blooms. In fact, I chastised myself every time that stray hope wandered through my brain. Until one day while shopping the semiannual Master Gardener's Plant sale a couple of months ago I got to chatting with a lady about my sticks. She disagreed with me when I mentioned that I figured they wouldn't bloom this year. She told me to go home and look for buds.

Well folks, I'm here to tell ya I started to get a little hopeful and a wee tad excited. The next day I got out there with that lady's words ringing through my head and checked out each nook and cranny of those sticks and their sprouts. And lo and behold, I found flower buds. Wow! I was out there every day after that, marveling as bud after bud appeared on all three sticks. The dark cloud of doubt still hung over me as I watched those buds mature and realized that I would be out of town for a few days very soon. Would I miss the first bloom?!

Turns out that I didn't miss it at all. The first bloom popped out the day before I headed out of town. And what followed upon my return was a flush of plump, beautiful fluffy flowers that were beyond all of my hopes and dreams. It was nothing short of a miracle, I tell ya. And I am so utterly amazed by this entire wondrous process called gardening.

Erica Glasener of HGTV's A Gardener's Diary

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/croatoan_found/512177446/

Last Friday night I got to hang out with Erica Glasener, host of HGTV's A Gardener's Diary. Yep, it was me, her, and about fifty other folks! Erica came down from Atlanta to give a lecture at the Garden Club here in Macon.

She is just as sweet in person as she is on the show and I really enjoyed hearing her speak and watching her slide show. I recognized several photos from gardens she's visited on the show including Lucinda Hutson's garden which I absolutely love.

Erica spoke about creating a four season garden here in Georgia. Now this is a topic after my own heart! This is what I've wanted forever but what I couldn't articulate. I simply didn't have the words to express this desire until I read Mrs. Greenthumbs. She was the one who explained it in terms I could understand. Mrs. Greenthumbs explained my want, which is similar to hers, to have multiple climaxes in the garden. Y'all know what I mean! I want color to bloom and be beautiful in my garden all year round, not just in spring when you can throw a few annuals in the ground to march in rows like little soldiers. No, I want a proper cottage garden with oodles of perennials that bloom year round and flop around on top of each other. Erica was kind enough to share with us some of her favorites and she even provided a handout with plants broken down by blooming season.

Erica has a bit of a sense of humor too. She doesn't mind adding non-native plants to her garden. I agreed with her when she said "nothing is native to asphalt." :) Like me, she's also anti Crepe Murder. That's where folks cut those beautiful trees down to sticks in the winter. Who on earth came up with that idea anyway? Erica encouraged us to personalize our gardens and to mimic nature whenever possible. If you're in or traveling through the Atlanta area then Erica recommends shopping at the Garden Hood plant nursery.

Overall, it was a fun and informative evening. But I saved the best for last because that sweet Erica brought prizes! She gave her lecture standing next to a huge beautiful bouquet of flowers and fluff picked from her garden. And she also had three small potted hydrangeas to give away. The first two were snapped up mighty quick by a couple of brainy folks who answered her plant species questions from her bouquet. I just sat there racking my brains thinking to myself "uh, asparagus fern, maybe?" It was not asparagus fern.

Anyway, to make a long story endless, for the last plant prize Erica asked for an audience member whose birthday was today. Nada. Ok, how about someone whose birthday was this week, she asked. Nothin'. Alrighty then, who has my birthday, October 16th, she asked. Not a peep. Erica was stumped! The audience started calling out other plant giveaway question ideas. None of them floated her boat. Finally, Erica was thinking quick on her feet and she said, ok, who here is new to gardening?

Well folks, I'm pretty sure there was less than a nanosecond for my brain to process this thought and run down to my arm because I shot my hand up in the air so fast I'd swear I'd been through some sort of space, time continuum. Yes, I thought, yes, I AM new to gardening! And because I had strategically placed myself directly in Erica's line of site, in the middle aisle seat at the back, her eyes landed right on me. That's when she said some sort of pretty words about giving it to that "enthusiastic young lady there". Yes, Erica, that was me and I really, really love my prize. You must have known, surely, that hydrangeas are my absolute favorite plants. I'm sure you must have known that for months I've been planning to install several in my front yard. And, surely Erica, you must have known that as a relatively new gardener I could use all the help I could get in the form of a fabulous plant aptly named Hydrangea Invincebelle Spirit. Yes, Erica, I'm sure you must have known all of this when you kept asking your questions, waiting for me to come up with the answer. Because now, you see, I have every desire in the world to keep that plant alive, to plant it in the ground and see it grow, to photograph the beautiful blooms in the cottage garden of my dreams. Thanks Erica, for the inspiration!

A Garden of One's Own

It's not secret that I've been on a gardening kick lately. I wanted to share another of those library gems that I discovered by dragging home a dozen or so books at a time. A Garden of One's Own: Making and Keeping Your Flower Garden by Elsa Bakalar is full of gardening wisdom from a no nonsense gardener. I love her straightforward way of talking and her can do attitude. Elsa was a master gardener who influenced many folks over her lifetime. If you see this one on your library's shelves, grab it and enjoy it on the porch with a cup of tea.

The Lost Garden

I don't know about you, but when I go out of town for a couple days it seems like I'm completely loaded down with stuff. And I don't mean things like hairdryers and extra clothes. Who needs a change of pants anyway? No, what I'm talking about is stuff that is essential to life. Stuff that makes the days fun. I'm talking about craft projects and books.

Even for a short trip, one essential thing is a choice of craft projects and books. I never know what mood I'll be in while I'm away so I've always got to have a selection of each to fill my needs. Recently, I was on one of these sojourns with an unsatisfying novel. It was about my favorite subject of late, gardening, but I just couldn't get into it. So I set it aside in favor of Helen Humphreys's The Lost Garden. Boy am I glad I did!

This book was a delight from beginning to end. Set in World War II, our heroine, Gwen, volunteers to head up a farming project in rural England for the Women's Land Army. Problem is, she isn't much of a leader. In fact, she's quite shy and introverted with a low opinion of herself. Not your typical heroine and this is no typical book. Well, actually, it is sort of typical. It's a story about an ordinary person and the small world she inhabits. Its also about love and a lost garden that is found. Helen has written a beautiful book that is nothing short of a delight. It's storytelling at it's best. I promise you'll like it so please run right out and get this book.

On a related note I've spent many hours thinking about and planning my gardens. Y'all may recall that I detested the state of my barren backyard and have been working to build flowerbeds. Well, I've also got an eyesore chainlink fence with a wide open view not only of the neighbors but the neighbors beyond them on the other side of their street! This is not working for me. I want privacy. I want a backyard I can hunker down in and read a good book. So I've been working out just exactly what plants I want to grow along the fence to look and smell good and keep out the prying eyes.

I finally settled on a mix of Confederate Jasmine, Lady Banks roses, and some sort of clematis. Since I will need several to cover up the fence I decided to save a little money by rooting these vines myself. Of course I'd never done this before so who knows where this grand experiment will end. But forget the ending, I still needed to begin! I was on the hunt down around the neighborhood for some Confederate Jasmine from which to take some cuttings. I didn't really know what it looked like so I spent a lot of time online looking at pictures of its flowers and leaves from different angles from up close and far away. I've had to do a lot of this the last few months as I've struggled to get to know plants. When I finally figured it all out I realized that, just as I'd hoped, it was everywhere. Including my own backyard. Who knew?!

Apparently, that little shrub way back there in the corner by the fence is the exact vine I was seeking. I remember seeing some of it climbing the fence last year and thinking that I needed to hack them down. So I did. I had no earthly idea that it was a vining plant nor that it was one that I'd eventually settle on to decorate my fence. And it's kind of funny that it worked out that way, don't you think? A little bit of a lost garden, right there in my own backyard.

Mrs. Greenthumbs

A little while ago I talked about the virtues of hauling home oodles of books from the public library. It's a super way to explore a new hobby in a cheap and satisfying way. One of the things I'm always on the lookout for are fabulous authors whose voices speak to me. And I found just that in the books by Cassandra Danz.

Now when I first picked up Mrs. Greenthumbs Plows Ahead: Five Steps to the Drop-Dead Gorgeous Garden of Your Dreams, I glanced half heartedly at the cover. Surely this frumpy lady in an 80s style dress could teach me nothing about gardening. But oh how wrong I was! Not only did she teach me gardening know how, but she made me understand it. I couldn't believe it. All my life I've been looking for a gardening book to explain just how to make a garden in a way that I could understand. She articulated my needs and explained just exactly how to meet them. I was amazed! And I was converted.

I set about to acquire all the books that were written by this fabulous female gardener. And that's when I discovered to horribly sad news. Cassandra Danz, the person who finally made me see the gardening light, died at age 55 from breast cancer. I was crushed. How devastating that such a lively, energetic person could succumb to such a horrible disease. Damned unfair. And I'm not the only one who misses this enthusiastic personality. I was pretty bummed that just when I'd found the perfect gardener's voice to guide me through my horticultural adventure, she was snatched away.

What makes me love her books so much? Her voice. Her style of writing is quite conversational. It's a lot like a blog, really. She talks to her reader as if we're sitting together chatting over a cup of coffee. And she's funny too. Oh yes friends, she is indeed funny. We're talking Stephanie Plum funny here.

I never thought I'd ever laugh out loud at a gardening book. I thought the only kind in existence were boring, lecture type books that extolled the virtues of plants using horribly boring black and white charts. You know the ones I mean, the kind that state you "must" do it this way or else. Or else what?! I always wondered. Or else you'll come over to my house and march into my backyard and set the place on fire? I always wondered.

But Mrs. Greenthumbs changed all that. She changed my whole gardening information world. She made it ok not to have all the answers. She made it ok to make mistakes. She made it ok to go ahead and try my hand at gardening, even though I didn't know everything. All those other books put the fear into me that I had to memorize all that stuff so I would know it all and avoid mistakes. Oh the horror of mistakes!

I think the reason I didn't get serious about gardening before was because I never felt I knew enough not to make mistakes. But gosh darn folks, ya know what? Everyone makes mistakes! And we new gardeners are bound to. Mrs. Greenthumbs made me realize those things. And for that I will forever be grateful. So thank you Cassandra, for all of your words of wisdom and laugh out loud funniness that helped set me on my gardening path. Even though you've gone to the great big mulch pile in the sky, I take my sun hat off to you and will plant a fluffy flower in your honor.

The Cottage Garden

I had no idea when I picked up The Cottage Garden at the library several years ago that author Christopher Lloyd was THE guy when it comes to horticulture. I just liked to look at the pretty pictures. But I was reading the best gardening book ever written and it mentioned Christopher Lloyd. A lot. And the funny thing was, I kept thinking she meant Christopher LOWELL. Um, yeah, that's a totally different guy. Anyway, eventually I figured out my mistake and was happy to be introduced to an amazingly inspirational British gardener.

This time when I sought out this book again at my library I was ready to actually learn from it's pages. After years spent pouring over the beautiful photos in gardening books and wondering how the heck they managed to create such beautiful gardens, I'm finally, slowly learning how to craft my own beautiful gardens. And what I found out is that not only is this book a delight for the visual sense but it's also crammed full of helpful information. Its an excellent overview of the history of cottage gardens and the plants within them. And not just plants and flowers but all the other aspects that make up a cottage garden too: gates & doors, fences, walls, & hedges, ponds, streams, & ditches, pathways, containers, furniture, and outbuildings. Wow!

If you are at all considering establishing a cottage garden at your home I highly encourage you to find this book. And if you have a cottage garden already then you'll love it too. Sadly, Christopher Lloyd is no longer with us. But thankfully he left behind a body of work that can be read and savored for years to come.

Here Be Dragons

You would think with two dogs and two cats I'd be done adding pets to the Fluffy Flowers household. But this weekend my sweetheart and I invited a dragon into our lives.

Actually, he was a black dragon. Specifically, Cryptomeria japonica ‘Black Dragon’.

Doesn't he have groovy little claws?!

Not sure what Mr. Bunny thinks of this new resident!

Folks, this weekend I planted my very first tree. It was one of the most satisfying things I've ever done.

I spent a lot of time researching a small tree for my backyard that could handle our blistering summer heat.

And, once again, I found lots of helpful information on GardenWeb Forums.

The hole was dug deep and wide, the roots were loosened, and the tree put in place.

Oodles of water to quench his thirst. Dragons get thirsty sometimes.

In the end Mr. Bunny decided he liked the new dragon and would keep him company on his first few nights in his new home.

I planted my first ever tree. Groovy.

Mrs. Whaley and Her Charleston Garden

I've had a lot of luck with good things to read lately. I don't know if y'all know this about me but I usually have three books going at one time: an audio book in the car, a fiction book by the bed, and a nonfiction book in the sitting room. I just finished reading a delightful memoir called Mrs. Whaley and Her Charleston Garden by Emily Whaley. This book was entertaining from start to finish.

It's more than just a book about a garden and a gardener in her eighties. It's a wonderful glimpse into the life of a southern woman raised in the country during the early part of the twentieth century. It's also a celebration of that life and the people around her. She gives credit to all those folks who where important in her life including her dog, Rosie.

What is really fabulous about this book is the style of writing. Its really more of a conversation than anything else. And Mrs. Whaley's voice, and her opinions, are loud and clear. This lady tells it like it is! I found myself nodding my head and chuckling more than a few times at her sage advice.

Really folks, it's an easy, short read that is thoroughly delightful. You can read more about Mrs. Whaley's garden over at the Stencil Library's blog.

gardening books

Been reading heaps of gardening books lately. I've mentioned a couple of them to y'all already. But I thought I'd show you just how pretty they look all piled up on the garden bench.

That would be Slashables's bench.

He was hanging out with me during the photo op. In fact, Slash usually hangs out with me when ever I'm out in the garden.

And he's really good company too!