grand rapids garden
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October Bloom Day: Fade to Red
First, a shout out to May Dreams Gardens for Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day. I always enjoy looking at what is blooming in other gardens all over the world. Thank you! It is fall here in West Michigan, and the rains have arrived. I love how everything glistens. But the garden continues to withdraw. And while I Continue reading
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Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day: July 15, 2014
Cool temps and plenty of rain. That’s the kind of summer we have been having so far as we enter the middle of July. That means the gardens are green and full of blooms. Here is what is blooming today on Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day: July, 2014. Continue reading
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Daylily Therapy
The perfect antidote for dealing with mean-spirited and illogical people is a dose of daylilies. Mine are beginning to bloom. True to form, First Knight was the first to bloom, followed soon after by Sea Urchin. Prairie Blue Eyes is now flowering, and so is Barbara Mitchell and Lavender Stardust. I found a few visitors Continue reading
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Surveying the Hostas
I’m procrastinating. Or maybe I’m percolating. At any rate, I’ve decided to survey the hostas. Continue reading
abiqua drinking gourd hosta, allegan fog hosta, dream weaver hosta, elegans hosta, francee hosta, francis williams hosta, ghost spirit hosta, Great Expectations hosta, june fever hosta, june hosta, lakeside beach captain hosta, orange marmalade hosta, stained glass hosta, stitich in time hosta, wheaton blue hosta -
June 15: Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day
Ah, June. It’s a happy month in the garden. The temps this year have been mild and we’ve had enough rain. I’m getting ready for my big shindig next Saturday which means I’d better hurry up and get the last of the annuals planted. I have a flat of purple petunias to put in and Continue reading
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Catmint and Other Blues
It’s been almost a year since I removed the Pana rhododendrons from the entrance garden and planted Walker’s Low catmint. That filled in nicely, and, while I knew the Walker’s Low wasn’t really low, I was not prepared for the wonderful blue spires that greet me every time I come home. It is taller now Continue reading
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Mosaics of Green and Brick
Our warm weather has urged the garden into mosaics of green spires of day lily foliage, scalloped and beaded lady’s mantle capes, and hosta caves for Callie to doze the day away. And now the promise of winding brick paths against the backdrop of late spring is here. I love the pathway that my friend Continue reading
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May 15, 2014: Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day
This is my first bloom day of the season! A shout out to May Dreams Gardens for starting this wonderful tradition of reporting out what is blooming in our gardens on the 15th of each month. I love going to her website and following the links to gardens all over the world. Lots of life Continue reading
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The wonderful thing about spring is that just when you think it will never get here, it does. But that doesn’t mean I’m ready for it. Between concerts and grades I’ve been careening from one thing to another. But everything should be winding down a bit this week. It’s not like I have nothing to Continue reading
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As Winter Recedes
It’s been a tough winter, the toughest in a couple of decades. More than 100 inches of snow fell on the garden this year. And temps hovered around zero degrees Fahrenheit for too many weeks. Snow can protect perennials and I’m confident that most of the plants in the gardens survived the winter. But the Continue reading
About Me
I haven’t always been a gardener, but I have always loved gardens. It has taken 16 years to get my gardens into the shape they are today. And, I’ve had help. I’m 74 years old, have rheumatoid arthritis, and had a late stage cancer six years ago. I am, though, intrepid. I’m the kind of person who plods along, tailoring my goals as I go. Last November I had a long overdue knee replacement surgery and I’m hoping this spring, summer, and fall will be able to maintain and find even more joy working in all of my garden beds. Full disclosure, though. I have a garden guy who comes once a week to work in my gardens.
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