today's flower: dwarf iris

the first dwarf iris of a bunch shot up this past weekend.

weekend gardening events

if i could only go to one gardening event this weekend, it would be the seminar on native bees in new hope, pennsylvania.

(bee pendant from my etsy shop)

weekend gardening events

looks like a nice winter weekend, so do something!

Farming in High Tunnels 
Accokeek, MD
Friday, January 27, 2012

Washington Gardener Seed Exchange 
Wheaton, MD
Saturday, January 28, 2012

Monarch Butterflies and Their Miraculous Migration 
New Hope, PA
Sunday, January 29, 2012

today's problem: holiday gifts for gardeners

the leaf rake hands are NOT on my wish list...

brookside gardens

today you can feel fall in the air.

the leaves are just beginning to get color and the wind is blowing them off of the trees and swirling them around the streets.

one of my favorite places to visit during this season is brookside gardens.

this public garden has so many lovely plantings set in wonderful vignettes which showcase all the beauty of autumn.

common good

you can be part of the common good by planting seeds at common good city farm...or learn how to plant seeds: the popular urban farm and education center also wants you to harvest your seeds, weed, compost and participate in the garden as community. help grow fresh fruit and veggies for low-income residents of dc while ruining your manicure, er, getting your hands dirty. orientation is tomorrow (and the first saturday of every month through september), sign up for specific times and tasks, then get to work. 

strawberry festival

well, it isn't exactly a festival, but the one strawberry pot has produced quite a few non-stink-bug-eaten berries this year, creating somewhat of a party- a festival of sorts-in my mouth.

omg: gmo alfalfa approved

for the last few years, a consortium of organic growers have fought the use of bio-engineered seed by big business. the growers  are fighting the use of 'gmo's for a variety of reasons...mainly because bees pollinating genetically modified plants would also visit nearby organic crops, thus polluting them. well, according to slash food: they gave up! monsanto has just received the food and drug administration's backing to grow unrestricted amounts of alfalfa...to feed livestock, among other things...great.

best plants for winter

as the bleakness of winter gets, well, bleaker, these are the plants i wish i had planted to give me a little mid winter color...they are on my list for this year!

red twig dogwood: i like the variety with the variegated leaves so it looks good all year round.

rosa rugosa: lovely large hips!

beauty berry: purple berries: need i say more?

harry lauder's walking stick:

i love this gnarly plant!  i have killed several starter ones, but look forward to giving another one a try soon...

 camellias!

my neighbor has a large-obviously very old-camellia shrub adjacent to her house that has huge and wonderful rose-like blooms all winter- just when you're longing for some color. i have been admiring it for many winters now, but every year its beauty continues to surprise me.

variegated holly bush...

i am not a fan of the sharp holly leaves in the summer time, with the bare feet and all. but, come winter its full silhoette is a welcome site! my favorite holly is this variegated variety: it is very festive around the holidays with the lovely red berries. many different types of birds live off of these berries in winter: robins, starlings, a bunch of different tree-clinging, wood-pecker-type birds, wax-wings (love them!) and cardinals to name a few.

hellebores...it took a few years to get my single one established, but now it blooms faithfully every late january and is even beginning to spread a bit, but i need more than one...

heathers and heaths are so pretty, especially on a wnter's day like today! this variety, Calluna vulgaris 'firefly' looks like a cluster of mini red hot pockers!

witch hazel blooms before forsythia, which i like because they signal the start of warmer days.

snow drops are

the first to show up in earliest spring: that's why they're great! 

porno for gardeners

you can tell the new year has arrived by the sudden influx of gardening catalogs...porno for gardeners.

crazy colors of fall

we had 69 days of over 90° days this past summer and rain in bunches when it did fall...but somehow the autumn color has been more spectacular this autumn! my dwarf fothergill continues to impress as it morphs on...

gift guide for gardeners

gifts for gardeners $20 and under

5 Mushroom Decals WilsonGraphics $12.00	Gnome Soap Handmade Oatmeal ... HowardsHome $6.00
Aeonium Kiwi Succulent Plant... TheSucculentGa... $2.95	Sakura Blossoms - Plantable ... recycledideas $14.00
PIF Organic Orange Calendula... Thebearfootsha... $0.20	FREE SHIPPING - Flower Hair ... hotpinkchick $18.50
Bamboo mood light bayshoregarage $20.00	tiny house myhouseparty $14.00
White Dove Metal Ornament merritthyde $12.00	The French Flower Market Gif... SatinandBirch $15.00
Living Terrarium Ornament, ... WarmCountryMea... $12.99	White Bubble Pottery Planter sweetrice $12.00
Herb Garden colonametalwor... $20.00	Old Green Flower Pot Japan- ... wilshepherd $8.00
Woodpecker Feeder From Recla... andrewsreclaim... $23.00	Cedar Garden Stakes/Plant Ma... bitsnthreads $20.00

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i always shop on etsy...not just because i have two etsy shops, but because you can find the best things there! here is a selection of great gift ideas for gardeners under $20: enjoy!

dwarf fothergill

my dwarf fothergill never fails to show off in fall...although, i have never seen this color in it's arsenal of awesomeness!

freeze warning

i think at my house it was a frost warning and upcounty it was a freeze warning...whatever: i ignored/forgot about it and almost lost a healthy crop of basil! after the blackest leaves were removed, i combined them with a lot of garlic, some walnuts and olive oil for the most delicious pesto: primo!

floating garden

this floating garden inspired by traditional japanese art themes will no longer be just a fantasy once vertilignes manufactures it. 

fall foliage

more fall color from another maple...we are still not in full effect foliage-wise, but the strong storms that blew through earlier today made it seem like fall. now leaves are swirling through the air...mounding on the ground...and beginning to change from green to awesome. one weird note: it's 76°!

dwarf fothergilla

other than the sugar maples, we are not seeing a lot of color around here yet...which is fine by me: hold off winter til the last second, please! while weeding today, i found this blazing leaf in the middle-at the bottom-of my completely still green dwarf fothergilla. a peak at things to come.

sugar, sugar maple

hands down: my favorite shade tree for autumn color is the sugar maple...at the first hint of fall, the sugar maple's leaves go from chartreuse green to golden yellow... depending on weather, rainfall, blah, blah, blah...the large leaves may gyrate through various gradations of red, hot pink and orange: 

it can be stunning, especially when the autumnal sun illuminates them like so many stained glass windows in an outdoor cathedral... the thing about the sugar maple is, you have to be fast to catch the color wheel transformations: the tree can do its thing in like, 48 hours and then drop everything to the ground. i feel fortunate i was able to see this old specimen while walking the dog, because its gone now!

today's haul

i quietly abandonded my garden in the field a few months ago...the drought killed most everything, and what didnt die was neatly trimmed of all fruits by the deer or infested with one kind of insect or another. i hate giving up on anything, but the fact that i am the only gardener up there not using multiple pesticides and chemicals combined with only once-a-week maintanence of the plot makes for no food: thank god for farmer o'bier's or we would have starved! luckily, my little square foot garden rocked the earth and has provided me with a little something every day. today, i got the last of the ripe pear tomatoes, some of the gazillion green beans planted, a few more mini banana peppers and an eggplant to roast. smaller is indeed better, in this case!

power of pollinators

this summer had super hot 90°+ days for a really long time without rain. this prolonged dry heat resulted in a lack of pollinators...(did you know clustering flies are the most prolific pollinators? i did not). for example, my squash had a million blooms, but only four (delicious) actual squash,,,also no white squash moths...but now temperatures have dropped into the 80's...nights have also cooled...the sedum has bloomed and finally the bees have returned. and, yes: i have some baby squash developing!