Lessons From Our Garden

An Exercise in Patience

Posted on February 5, 2018September 26, 2019 by Dorie

20180204_170441 Gardening requires the utmost levels of patience. I am not a patient person. At all. Houston, we have a problem.

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Caring for Roses Part 1: Pests & Pruning

Posted on February 4, 2018September 26, 2019 by Dorie

20171104_150710 What’s not to love about roses? Okay, other than the thorns. At our peak, the Old Man and I have had over 30 rose plants of various forms in our yard. We just ripped out a few, but it’s okay, we’re expecting four more to be delivered soon. We don’t have a problem (twitch twitch).

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Protecting Frost Tender Plants

Posted on January 11, 2018February 2, 2022 by Dorie

20171221_171349 The last time it snowed where I live was December, 1998. My oldest was my only at that time, and a wee one at that, being only four months old. The snow was about 1 inch deep, if that much, and was gone in a day. Continue reading Protecting Frost Tender Plants

The Winter Garden

Posted on December 4, 2017September 29, 2019 by Dorie

20171130_162942 Most gardening blogs don’t relate to me. I don’t have deer, I have snails. I don’t have 10 feet of snow in November, it’s sunny and the windows are open. I can’t start spinach in April, it’s too dang hot.

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Home-Made Soil Acidifier

Posted on October 20, 2017February 2, 2022 by Dorie

20171019_172357[1] The majority of plants can handle soil that is near a neutral pH, but some are really picky and they will let you know before long if you don’t give them the soil environment that they need. Stunted growth and yellowing leaves are some of the more common signs that your soil pH is not where it should be.

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The Garden Sink

Posted on September 26, 2017February 2, 2022 by Dorie

20170924_145123 If you have ever harvested produce from your own garden, or brought in cut flowers from the yard, you and I have very likely had a shared experience. You’re washing off your prize when out crawls something unwanted. Maybe it has six legs, maybe eight (the WORST!), or, ewwww, no legs at all and is slimy. Whatever it is, it is now inside. Exactly where you probably don’t want it to be.

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The “Joys” of Gardening

Posted on September 18, 2017September 29, 2019 by Dorie

Let’s face it, plant growers lie. To be fair, it’s more like incomplete truths than all out lies, but no nursery is going to label a plant with “Under ideal circumstances this plant is great, but most of the time it really just sucks”. So you’re left with the task of discovering your plant’s dirty little secrets the hard way: after you’ve already had it in the ground for a good long time and it’s already caused a lot of problems.