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garden open day today: a mini virtual tour

may-30-back-terraceT ODAY IS OPEN DAY AT A WAY TO GARDEN, THE FIRST THIS SEASON. It’s been a little hectic (understatement), but I’m as ready as I can get. In case you can’t make it, here’s a small peek at some of the goings-on. Enjoy your “walk” around. [Read more...]

doodle by andre: it’s amazing out there, no?

everyday_miraclesT HOUGH I HOPE MY FIGURE IS STILL A TAD BETTER THAN THIS GUY’S, despite all the dark chocolate and fig bars lately, he is definitely on to something: Miracles abound outside the window. Have you had a look today? Thanks, Andre Jordan, for the sweet reminder.

farewell, my princes: the big frogboy exodus

newboys-4M Y FIVE BIGGEST HUNKS O’ BURNING BULLFROG have up and gone, the oldest boys out back who I was certain were Prime Prince Material. Sigh. Left me flat, during or just after a dramatic 2.75-inch rainfall recently, without so much as a farewell ribbit. And look at the mere pipsqueaks who have got hold of the larger pool since, which they’d never dare have gone near if the omnivore Big Boys were still around (and that’s a froggirl up top; not big and not even a boy!). What’s up with my frogs? Was it something I said? [Read more...]

my june garden chores

chores-logoJ UNE IS THE MONTH when the spring garden, all promise and freshness, fades to a picture of deadheads everywhere, and weeds really start testing us. We shall overcome! I’m offering the list a bit early this month, because I’ve had two bouts of heat that have put things off course a bit. Here’s where I begin in June or thereabouts (and probably never end, the usual story with the to-do list…but it makes me feel better having it, anyhow): [Read more...]

a plant i’d order: primula japonica

primula-japonica-groupingI’M ALWAYS SURPRISED BY HOW MANY CANDELABRA PRIMROSES there are by bloom time, because you never really know until just beforehand, when Primula japonica’s lettuce-like leaves seem to suddenly spread and stretch up and out from nowhere. Whoosh! This year, in the considerable shade of some old winterberry hollies and viburnums, I seem to have a positive infestation. Things could most definitely be worse than to be surrounded by these charming creatures. [Read more...]

let there be sweet potatoes: how to plant them

sweet-potatoesB ETWEEN A ROW OF CUTTING TULIPS AND ANOTHER OF ALLIUMS, on a mounded “ridge” of soil created for the purpose, the sweet potatoes were tucked in here a week ago. You have to love a seed or plant that comes in the mail complete with recipes: how optimistic, how confidence-inspiring. My box of “slips” included all the details on planting, sure, but also on making sweet-potato fries and sweet-potato pie, and I cannot wait. But there are probably just a few details to consider before I fire up the stove: [Read more...]

long-weekend rant: do you like to mow? (part 2)

tools-of-trade(A reprise of a favorite post, perfect for summer’s official kickoff.)

I HAVE A LOVE-HATE THING GOING WITH MOWING: I always feel it’s a time-waster, but I am also always relieved there’s “mowing to be done” since that means legitimate escape from things like writing the book I have due. Mowing has immediate, tangible results; you cut grass blades, and they look cut. You try to write and, well, sometimes you don’t get any words. So tell me, do you like to mow? We’ve talked about this before, and instead of repeating myself I could have checked that you’re following the tomato-growing tips and using a rain gauge when you water and pruning your fading lilacs…or asked if you’re almost done with the May chores list. But it’s a holiday, so before I go out to you-know-what (also known as avoid writing), I’ll simply ask if you like to mow, and also say one more thing: My frogboys, all my innumerable sisters and I wish you a happy, healthy, safe, delicious long weekend, mowing or its avoidance notwithstanding.

doodle by andre: the plant wars

plant_warsT HE BIG CHARITY PLANT SALE NEARBY, “the” event of the season, was last Saturday, and I admit it: I fell off the wagon a time or two. Nobody I adopted cost $50 or $200, hallelujah, but there were two $35 babies in the back seat on the ride home, rare gold-leaf forms of an Aralia I can’t live without and nobody sells but this one guy….oh, you know the story (read: excuse). But generally speaking, I think all plants are priceless (to use Mastercard’s phrase): mere marigolds or a never-before-recorded thing found on an exploration slightly below the top of Yu Shan, the highest peak in Taiwan. They all fascinate me, some so much that I occasionally lose all sense and self control. Anyone want to confess to me and doodler Andre Jordan their teeny little binges? Anybody in a she’s-gotta-have-it race to the death with a garden “friend,” perhaps? Do tell.

slideshow: springtime’s shrubs on parade

cornus-silver-and-goldS HRUBS ARE THE PEOPLE-SIZED PART OF THE LANDSCAPE, the middle layer that you cannot make a garden without. If you go and skip the shrubs, the transition from tree to perennial is just too drastic, don’t you think? I tried to pick one kind to profile today—lilacs, perhaps, or twig dogwoods (both in the photo above and both treating me to a show at the moment) or maybe a viburnum?—but I failed to single anybody out. Instead, a tour of springtime’s shrubs so far at A Way to Garden, in words and pictures: [Read more...]

get the away to garden newsletter

The Confessional

Some stuff really gets A Way to Garden-ers going. Weigh in, or just lurk while everyone else shares about these hot buttons:

Juicy Bits

name that weed I KNOW A LOT OF PLANTS by their proper names, but my “weeds,” not so much. These great weed-identification websites are helping me finally address them with the proper (dis)respect.

everything old is new VINTAGE 'GREEN' POSTERS from the WPA 1940s look fresher than ever.

shrubs to covet THE OLDER THE GARDEN and I get, the more we love these shrubs.

tomato troubles STAY AHEAD OF tomato diseases with these organic tactics.

the edible garden GROW YOUR OWN 2010: my vegetable seed order.

plants that perform 21 POWERHOUSE PERENNIALS you will love for your garden.

herb-garden help GROWING AND STORING a year of parsley.

berry peachy-keen CLAFOUTIS BATTER how-to (the solution for easy fruit desserts).

rex, rhizomatous and more FANCY-LEAF BEGONIAS, beauties for indoors and out.

crispy refrigerator pickles WHAT IS IT ABOUT refrigerator pickles that makes everybody so happy? Get those cukes ready!

winged victory THE GARDEN as bird habitat: 11 tips on what birds like.

hellebore porn SEXY, EXTRA-EARLY, evergreen shade perennials I can’t garden without.

forum

success with heirlooms CAN GRAFTING TOMATOES help insure a bountiful harvest?

the garden is a showoff 375 VISITORS, 1 BIG RHODIE: spring garden open day, in a virtual visit. How it looked, and also what they all asked.

keeping deer out DEER FENCE: I tried every anti-deer potion and trick till I got real and fenced. Strategies for every garden.

secrets to great tomatoes TOMATO TIPS, seed to harvest: Dozens of tricks for a better crop.

yes, even in dry shade MY 4 TOUGHEST GROUNDCOVERS perform even in the worst spots, like dry shade.

5 great small trees GARDEN-SIZED TREES can’t just be the right scale; they need to have multi-season interest, too. Have room for one of my favorites?

10 underplanting do’s and don’ts MAKING MOSAICS—that’s what I call good underplanting of trees and shrubs with a tapestry of plants. Here’s how.

a ribbeting bullfrog whodunit LET BULLFROGS BE BYGONES? No way. Where did all my biggest frogboys go?

stars of the spring shrubbery BEYOND LILACS (and forget forsythia!), a slideshow of some fine spring shrubs you may not grow (yet).

speeding up the compost DRIVE BY, HIT-AND-RUN composting speeds up the decomposition process while making good mulch quickly. Here’s how.

making a 365-day garden THINK FALL (YES, FALL): Don’t get sucked in by spring-bloomers only at the nursery. A great garden happens 365 days: Shop smart to make it so.

the facts about bulbs SOMETHING UP with a flower bulb? Paltry bloom, or wondering when to feed or cut off the foliage? It’s all here.

must-read garden poem MY FAVORITE POEM celebrates loss, one of gardening (and life’s) realities. It does it with humor: "Why Did My Plant Die?” is a must-read.

12 steps to sanity? HELP FOR GARDENERS: Hi, my name is Margaret, and yes, we operate a 12-Step program here.

orchid rebloom made easy I REBLOOMED MY FIRST ORCHID recently (finally!) and it turns out to be pretty easy going. Here’s how.

my seed-starting 101 WHAT ABOUT SEED-STARTING in general? The A Way to Garden method.

hail the stewartia I LIKE PLANTS THAT EARN THEIR KEEP, that do more than a week or two of showing off. The small-ish to medium trees in the genus Stewartia are a good bet if it’s multi-season interest you crave.

can-do pruning REPEAT AFTER ME: I can prune. I can prune. If you follow this simple method for starters, your woody plants will thank you.

the ‘other’ peonies JUNE IS PEONY TIME, the big raucous kind of peony time, but just before that another kind of peony does its subtler, wonderful thing.

which lilac to plant? SO MANY LILACS, so little space. Browse a glossary of some of my favorites before you shop.