Month: August 2009
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Cocktails, Cooking, Herb Gardening, Plant Spotlight, Recipes, Summertime Cocktails, Vegetable Gardening
Liquid Pleasures of the Late Summer Garden: Part Two, How I Came to Know the Cuban Mint Julep…
Mel’s Cuban Mint Julep/ AKA The Mojito I simply can not believe this is the last weekend of August. Where has the summer gone? Here in New England the weather pattern has shifted right on cue and the nights are already getting cooler. Geese are gathering on the water. Labor Day weekend and the Harvest […]
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Garden Gloves, Garden Maintenance, Garden Science, Native Plants, Weeds and Weeding
The Zen of Weeding…
I often recycle my old wicker laundry baskets for weeding chores. Not only are they inexpensive, lightweight and easy to move in and out of tight spots, but once they begin to fall apart, I can just break them up and add them to the compost pile! As I sat down to write this article, I […]
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Cooking, Herb Gardening, Perennial Close-Ups, Plant Spotlight, Recipes, Vegetable Gardening
Liquid Pleasures from the Late Summer Garden. Part One: Keeping Cool with Lemon-Mint Sun Tea…
Lemon-Mint Sun Tea in the Garden The dog-days of summer have arrived, and it sure is hot outside today. Gardening is hard work, and it’s easy to over-do it on a sweltering day. Digging, weeding, dividing, lifting, mulching: all physically demanding tasks. In the summer, I always protect my head and skin with a straw […]
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Ferncliff, flowering shrubs, Garden Design, Native Plants, Naturalistic Garden Design, Woodland plants
Sweet-Scented August: Clethra Alnifolia
Clethra alnifolia, North American native “Sweet Pepperbush’ Some of the most beautiful late-blooming shrubs remind me of that childhood tale, “The Ugly Duckling”. Late to leaf out, looking perhaps a bit twiggy and awkward in June, these stars of the late summer garden take their time dressing up for spring. Sweet pepperbush is one of […]
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Aletha Soule, annuals, companion planting, Cutting Garden, Fresh Cut Flowers, Garden Design, Great Growers and Nurseries, Richard Foye, Tim Geiss, Vegetable Gardening
Bringing Nature’s Beauty Indoors: Flowers Just for Cutting…
~ A bouquet of dahlia and calendula brightens my windowsill ~ One of the great pleasures of successful flower gardening is, of course, the access to seasonal, fresh cut flowers for the dinner table, desk and elsewhere in the home. I also really enjoy bringing an exotic bouquet to my host or hostess when I […]
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Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Plant Spotlight, Plants for shade, Pots, Shade Gardening, Tropical Plants
Hello Lover…
Cape Primrose, (Streptocarpus ‘Black Panther’) in the Secret Garden at Ferncliff I love a little flirtation in the garden. Yesterday, my cape primrose ‘Black Panther’ reminded me of just how much fun it is to be teased and surprised. I was dutifully weeding the Secret Garden path when I noticed something dark and mysterious peeking […]
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Ferncliff, Garden Design, Garden Design Photos, Native Plants, Perennial Close-Ups, Perennials for summer, Plant hunting, Plant Spotlight, Plants for sun, Tim Geiss
August: Seeking the Thrill of High Summer…
~ A bee visits Rudbeckia hirta “Becky mixed” in the perennial garden ~ Is it just me or does it feels like summer is passing too quickly this year? Here we are at the full Sturgeon Moon, (rising tonight, August 5th,at 8:56 pm EST), and it seems like the warm weather is just getting started […]
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