grand rapids garden
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Coming to Bloom
I’ve been in Arbor for five days, noodling around in shops, riding my TerraTrike on the TART trail and the new Heritage Trail that goes from Glen Arbor to the Sleeping Bear Dune Climb. That is a lovely, lovely trail that winds through forest, past Glen Haven, and then through dunes. I saw a black Continue reading
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Smoothing into June
The week began with my annual garden center crawl with a friend. I bought baskets and flats and almost enough catmint to fill a small bed in the front garden. The Strawberry Candy daylilies are gone. And as soon as they stop blooming, I’m going to pull out the Pana Rhododendrons. They have never done Continue reading
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Green
My father once told me that the intense green we see after a rain is an optical illusion, but I don’t care. Our two days of cold rain have greened everything up beautifully. Illusion or not, spring green is upon us. I’m most charmed this spring by the lilacs. A hard prune last summer finally Continue reading
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Marigolds
I love red and for several years I tried growing red petunias in front of the boxwood hedge in the front garden. I thought that true bright red would go well with the bricks. But, petunias just didn’t thrive in that soil. I then tried red salvia. That didn’t work either. But marigolds? Yup, marigolds Continue reading
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After the Rains
Grand Rapids experienced record flooding this spring. Two weeks of driving rain filled the rivers and streams to over-flowing and prevented me for getting into the garden. I was never in danger of flooding. Or, perhaps it is more accurate to say that if the flood waters got to me, the world would be ending. Continue reading
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April 15, Bloom Day
It’s pretty bleak in the garden, but there are signs of life. We’ve had a slow spring, and that’s just fine with me. A year ago the garden was seduced into early bloom. This spring the juncos are still around, but the robins have returned, and the cardinals are singing. And the hellebores are blooming! Continue reading
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September 15, Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day
We’ve had a gentle fall with mild temps and enough rain to almost make me forget that dry hot July. …Until I look at the hydrangeas. The white domes along the picket fence in the lower garden are stunted and bear evidence of the stress they endured two months ago. But they will probably survive Continue reading
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Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day, July 15, 2012
Wow, it’s still hot. And the garden is baking. The day lilies that were in glorious bloom just a week ago are now fading. I’ve begun removing bare scapes and scraping at the lifeless brown leaves that seem more prevalent this year than seems normal. The garden gets watered daily thanks to the in-ground system. 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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