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margaret roach, head gardener

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gardeners and frogs, on the edge

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frog on lip of troughTHE FROGBOYS CAN’T BELIEVE IT, EITHER: Another warm-weather season is drawing to a close, and with it the “everybody into the pool” mindset that pretty much sums it up around here will be traded for something involving snowsuits, not swimsuits. Everywhere I look this week, there’s a frogboy on the edge of the colder reality ahead. Meet them in this impromptu little slideshow:

Start the show by clicking the first thumbnail, then move from slide to slide by clicking the arrows beside the captions. Enjoy.

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11 comments
September 29, 2009

comments

  1. boodely says

    September 29, 2009 at 11:59 am

    Wonderful pictures, thanks for sharing.
    I don’t know if I feel “it’s only winter” after the summer we’ve had. Wouldn’t mind taking a leap into the pool myself and hiding out until spring.

    Reply
  2. Amy says

    September 29, 2009 at 2:29 pm

    Photographs are great as always! Only you can make frogs that appealing. Wish I could sleep until spring. I never know how I get through months and months without the solace of gardening. There is nothing better after hours at a computer than visiting plants and digging in the soil. Awaytogarden.com really helps a lot!!
    thank you, thank you

    Reply
  3. Kathy says

    September 29, 2009 at 3:13 pm

    Love the frogs! But not January and February.

    Reply
  4. Littlesister says

    September 29, 2009 at 5:22 pm

    Oh, those are lucky boys to be loved by you.

    Reply
  5. Squirrelgardens says

    September 29, 2009 at 6:44 pm

    So darn sweet. Hate to be ignorant….what do are their winters like? Where do the hibernate? I live in an area where frogs are not so plentiful.

    Reply
  6. Jane says

    September 29, 2009 at 7:12 pm

    I just love that picture of the waterplant-festooned frog boy! I’d love to have some frogs at my house. Does Portland, Oregon seem like good frog country? Sometimes in the summer we hear what we are told is tree frogs, but we never see any of them.

    Reply
    • Margaret says

      September 29, 2009 at 7:25 pm

      Welcome, Jane. There are 12 native species of frogs in Oregon (plus the bullfrog, an alien there but native here); how many can live in your particular area, you might be able to figure out better by starting here. You’d probably find the tree frogs with a flashlight at night; I often do in the shrubbery (instead of the trees). Hilarious creatures. I highly recommend buying an amphibian guidebook that covers your area, aif you don’t fear getting hooked like I am. :)

      Reply
  7. Amy says

    September 30, 2009 at 1:00 am

    I wish I saw bullfrogs here in Tennessee. Alas, only toads at my house, and they are not amused when I try to introduce them to the water garden. Sigh.

    Reply
  8. Helen says

    September 30, 2009 at 5:15 am

    Gorgeous photos.. did you take them yourself? I am building up my blog.. about simple things.. cats, gardening, growing ones own. Last year we dug a small pond for wildlife to use and I spotted frogs last week in a shrub near to it… will try to photograph but think it will be a challenge. I really enjoy your site. Thanks. Helen

    Reply
    • Margaret says

      September 30, 2009 at 9:19 am

      Welcome, Helen. Yes, I take all the photos on the blog here in the garden at my house. I find it very enjoyable – looking closely through the camera at things. See you soon again, I hope.

      Reply
  9. Madeline says

    August 7, 2011 at 3:32 pm

    Your frog photos are quite amazing. We have a water garden here and I have learned quite a bit about frogs since they showed up a few years ago. I have learned some of my info from you! I don’t know how you managed to get these shots. Our frogs are really skittish except for the very young ones. What we think is the female (she is HUGE compared to the others) is especially shy. But anyway, love the photos.

    Reply

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Podcast: Soups, Soups & More Soups

I’VE FOLLOWED a vegetarian diet for decades, but it wasn’t until just a few years ago that I mastered a really good vegetable soup. Now I’m learning variations on vegetable-based soups, plus ones with beans and even ideas for mushroom soups, too–all thanks to Alexandra Stafford and these recipes. (Stream it below, read the transcript or subscribe free.)

https://robinhoodradioondemand.com/podcast-player/6211/vegetable-soup-ideas-with-ali-stafford-november-5-a-way-to-garden-with-margaret-roach.mp3

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awaytogarden

mad gardener, nature addict, award-winning writer & podcaster, rural resident, corporate dropout, creator of awaytogarden dot com and matching book.

Instagram post 2190297402408409324_444552553 Snow day. To be followed by a snow night. #awaytogarden #wavehillchairs
Instagram post 2177779417009402040_444552553 No matter that it was 11F and 17F on mornings this week; my lifelong companions and I are all tucked in, each in our respective offseason spots. Three giant pots of #cliviaminiata that are actually pieces of my long-gone grandmother’s original plant from many, many decades ago, love the offseason bright cold of the mudroom, and get no water till around the new year or so. They need a chill (under 50 but above 35) for about 40 days to trigger timely bloom in late winter/early spring (without it they will bloom whenever, later, like June or even summer). The #alocasia reacts to the cold of the mudroom by shutting down and going dormant and leafless, and then I’ll let it sleep till late winter, when I give it a drink to see if it awakens. That one sleeps and wakes on its own timetable because I do not have a proper spot for it (ideally warm, like 60 or 65 at least, and humid and bright...no can do the humid part here). We have been together probably 10 years anyhow, despite my shortcomings as a #plantparent . #alocasiaamazonica #clivias #houseplantsofinstagram #houseplants #awaytogarden
Instagram post 2172580656557749859_444552553 Gardener: “I raked all the leaves!” Nature: “Oh, really?” (Cue sound of demonic laughter from on high.)
Instagram post 2170506606641504178_444552553 I wanna tell you how it’s gonna be You’re gonna give your love to me I wanna love you night and day You know my love will not fade away Not fade away Nope. Not this #cotinus leaf’s fiery hot love at least. Like the 1957 #buddyholly song I first heard by #therollingstones in 1964, it keeps going. #awaytogarden #fallfoliage2019 #cotinusgrace #notfadeaway
Instagram post 2168987273989949378_444552553 “Jack Frost nipping at your, er, geraniums...” And here it comes.
Instagram post 2166837817953503284_444552553 Constant companions: If you want to keep good company all winter, grow some good keepers. My house is stuffed with piles of #cucurbita awaiting their time in the oven or soup kettle. Each one is a character, distinctive. On one chair in the mudroom two close cousins in #cucurbitamoschata — the horse collar-shaped one called ‘Tromboncino’ or ‘Tromboncino Rampicante’ snuggles with some ‘Butternut.’ The ‘Tromboncino’ are better eaten green and small as #zucchini but I can’t resist their eventual mad size and shape, big enough to wear around your neck. I use their meat for enriching vegetable stock; the ‘Butternut’ are far more rich and delicious. Seed respectively from sandhillpreservation.com #sandhillpreservationcenter and @turtle_tree_seed (whose ‘Butternut,’ selected for “lastingness” for decades, will keep and keep into next spring or more). #wintersquash #awaytogarden #goodkeeper #cucurbitaceae
Instagram post 2162565040882902064_444552553 Furry fall friend: I look forward to crossing paths with this woolly caterpillar of the #giantleopardmoth this time of year, when its fiery intersegmental bands and plush coat seem to be just the right autumn-into-winter look. Miraculously this tiny animal will overwinter in a woodpile or in the leaf litter, even here in the North, building up a concentration of antifreeze (glycerol I think?) in its cells before the worst weather begins to avoid disaster. (Reminds me of the super-hardy #woodfrog who does similarly. Such heroes.) Swipe to see a beat-up pic of the adult moth, tattered with scales missing at its wing margins, but still dramatic. Unlike various spine-covered caterpillars that can sting you, this one’s hairs (or setae) won’t, but he will roll up tight if touched, in self-defense. I am in awe of such complex strategies of survival, I am. #mothsofinstagram #caterpillars #awaytogarden #hypercompescribonia #hypercompe
Instagram post 2161992098629435854_444552553 Beans are life. I mean, not only do I live on them daily (as I have as a vegetarian for 40+ years) but each one is a seed, a living embryo, a distinct and gorgeous little DNA miracle. I have been inspired by the hashtag #31daysofbeans by @lukasvolger lately, loving watching someone unknown to me (um, who shares my oatmeal thing too apparently...also see his #28daysofoatmeal) dish up the #phaseolus. We both admire bean ambassador Steve Sando @rancho_gordo and this photo might be my fave bean of all that I “met” via Steve years back, big and flat and chestnutty ‘Christmas Lima.’ My advice: don’t wait till Dec. 25 to dig in.
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Welcome! I’m Margaret Roach, a leading garden writer for 25 years—at ‘Martha Stewart Living,’ ‘Newsday,’ and in three books. I host a public-radio podcast; I also lecture, plus hold tours at my 2.3-acre Hudson Valley (NY) Zone 5B garden, and always say no to chemicals and yes to great plants.

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