I LIKE CONTRASTS, the yin and the yang of it all. And surprises. So I was especially pleased when this heart-shaped outcrop of moss appeared on the stone paving out back by the water garden last spring. It seemed like just the thing to pair with two of my many, many heart-shaped stones for a photo op. Wondered what the “woo-woo” in the logo up top on this blog’s pages meant, in the bright green box? This is it. More examples to come. You can count on it.
my new book!
as seen in
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.
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.
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.
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. orchid rebloom made easy I REBLOOMED MY FIRST ORCHID recently (finally!) and it turns out to be pretty easy going. Here’s how.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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. orchid rebloom made easy I REBLOOMED MY FIRST ORCHID recently (finally!) and it turns out to be pretty easy going. Here’s how.
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.
never stop wanting more plants, my garden mentor instilled in me 20-plus
years ago, regularly reminding me of another gardener, past 90, who still lusts
for every new thing he can get a cutting of. I promise not to, until I myself
am back in the soil.
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Oh, that’s not so woo woo. I’d call that enforced serendipity. Or something.
So glad to have found your blog. I recently moved from LA (where I had gardeners, but no garden) to upstate NY (Columbia County), where I have fifteen acres–and no garden–yet (though I do have beautiful chickens.) I am getting ready to put in my first ever vegetable garden, and so am soaking up information everywhere. I’ll be reading, religiously, I suspect, and perhaps sending questions on occasion–hope that’s ok! I am a longtime fan from MSL, bu t somehow didn’t know about your book, which I’ve just ordered.
Welcome, Paige. Yes, soon there will be forums for garden Q&A here–I am building them this week to debut next as my two-week-old site gets its next set of bells and whistles. One forum will be just for vegetable gardening questions so I expect I will see you there.
As for my book, it is a decade old but still useful, I hope–and if you want to compare how the garden has evolved you can click on the slideshow link under Who’s Gardening Here? on my homepage, to see it a couple of years ago from a Martha story. More photos to come soon as this new year unfolds.
M.
Another term might be wabi-sabi: the Japanese notion of the perfection of imperfection. I have a book on the philosophy somewhere…
Ever worn a tweed jacket that’s just slightly frayed around the cuffs and felt that it would just be wrong if the frays weren’t there? The same is true in the garden, or anywhere. But I like ‘woo woo’ just as well!
-Andrew
That looks like a message from the One who creates.
Elizabeth,
Welcome! Yes, there are definitely bigger forces than me at work out there, that’s for certain.
M.