It has been a long winter here in West Michigan, and a slow spring.  But we’ve had just the right amounts of rain and sunshine lately and the gardens are lush.  I have a brand new kitchen and in front of the window that looks out onto the gardens is a little desk where I… Continue reading

How wonderful to have a sculptor in the neighborhood.  One of the things I hoped to do this summer was buy one of Casey Bell’s sculptures to put in the garden.  I got the last of my summer checks last week and realized that most of the work that summer money was going to pay… Continue reading

I love comparison shots!  Below are two pictures of the secret garden.  One was taken a few days ago.  The other was taken a year ago.  I got home this evening at dusk and walked into the secret garden.  It smells so wonderful.  The vanilla scented purple petunias, the butterfly bush, and the datura all… Continue reading

This female eastern tiger swallowtail was feasting on the butterfly bush in the secret garden this afternoon. I saw a male yesterday. Below is a picture of the garden today, and next to it is the blank slate taken last summer. A lot has gone on in a year. Continue reading

I realize that using too much of one color can be    problematic in a garden, but I love garden blues.  And I’m hoping that I’ve mixed things up a bit so that the garden has some balance.  But isn’t this stokesia glorious? I won’t really know whether there is too much blue in the garden… Continue reading

Somehow it got to be August and I am getting reading to start the new academic year. But I’m also continuing to work on the secret garden. The blue theme is evolving. I bought catmint and stokesia, both on sale at a garden center. I love it when perennials go on sale. I also picked… Continue reading

I love mid July. The garden bursts into bloom in July. The day lilies are flowering and, if I’ve kept up with the watering, the annuals are at their most lush. I am most surprised at the white dome hydrangeas, though. I had no idea they were fragrant. Last year the blooms were small and… Continue reading

The cherry tree is so laden with fruit that it lost a sizable limb two nights ago.  It probably happened during one of the little thunder storms that moved through the area.  It was resting on the phone lines, which luckily did not snap.  Ron the handy man removed the limb from the wires.  I… Continue reading

The lavender is in full bloom now, filling the air with its pungent fragrance.  I bought six more to put in the secret garden and in the little nook under the dining room window.  I love the deep blue of hidcote lavender.  It is an English lavender with small little bells arrayed on a tall… Continue reading

I planted this Fabulous rose bush in the center medallion in the lower garden. I never thought I would take such joy from growing roses. In the past I’ve spurned them, largely because I thought they were too much work, or too prickly, or too fussy. But when I made the medallion bed in the… Continue reading