Rambling Manure blog Highland Gardens is a family owned garden center driven by gardener's success and delight that seeks the best suppliers of plants and garden-worthy items. http://www.highlandgardens.org/blog/ Sat, 26 May 2012 17:17:46 +0000 Joomla! 1.5 - Open Source Content Management en-gb Planted Deeply. http://www.highlandgardens.org/Blog/planted-deeply.html http://www.highlandgardens.org/Blog/planted-deeply.html I am an addict. I can’t stop wanting plants. I sneak them in so my husband won’t give me attitude for bringing more home.

]]> grdnguru1@aol.com (Erica Shaffer) Blog Sun, 20 May 2012 11:40:01 +0000 The Fifth Element http://www.highlandgardens.org/Blog/the-fifth-element.html http://www.highlandgardens.org/Blog/the-fifth-element.html Sunshine, Water, Soil, Fertilizer and....

As I prepared to plant my young tomato, I pondered how this little green plant had not long ago been a tiny little seed. Generations of gardeners had felt this variety good enough to keep saving the seeds, year after year. This tomato tasted amazing, and would give me a bumper crop starting mid summer.

]]> grdnguru1@aol.com (Erica Shaffer) Blog Sun, 06 May 2012 12:18:32 +0000 Just because... http://www.highlandgardens.org/Blog/just-because.html http://www.highlandgardens.org/Blog/just-because.html Just because you read it on the internet, doesn't make it truth. I recently read a FB post that quoted Abraham Lincoln. He said "This internet thing will never catch on."

]]> grdnguru1@aol.com (Erica Shaffer) Blog Sun, 22 Apr 2012 12:32:58 +0000 Nature + Luxury http://www.highlandgardens.org/Blog/nature-luxury.html http://www.highlandgardens.org/Blog/nature-luxury.html So I have been on the soap box (I never really get off) about how dandelions have every right/reason/beauty to be in your lawn as your blades of grass. Running in a close second in despise-ability or love (depending on whose camp you are in) would be the precious Wild Violet. (We all know by now which camp I am in.)

]]> grdnguru1@aol.com (Erica Shaffer) Blog Sun, 15 Apr 2012 13:00:54 +0000 they learn it from us. http://www.highlandgardens.org/Blog/they-learn-it-from-us.html http://www.highlandgardens.org/Blog/they-learn-it-from-us.html Last week I had the privilege of speaking to a group of 7thgraders. 100 of them! They were planning/designing /installing a Native Garden at their school. I was there to give them some schpeal.

]]> grdnguru1@aol.com (Erica Shaffer) Blog Sun, 08 Apr 2012 13:18:35 +0000 Open Season. http://www.highlandgardens.org/Blog/open-season.html http://www.highlandgardens.org/Blog/open-season.html It is that time of year again. Dandelions are now in season. Of course every hunting season has rules and regulations, and opposition.

]]> grdnguru1@aol.com (Erica Shaffer) Blog Sat, 31 Mar 2012 16:24:49 +0000 It's Spring!!! http://www.highlandgardens.org/Blog/its-spring.html http://www.highlandgardens.org/Blog/its-spring.html My husband asked "Why aren't you going down to see the sunset anymore?" Inside my head I curtly asked him if he forgot what I did for a living, followed by a heavy sigh, and another comment- that I was a gardener. This is what it was all about. The waiting was over. There were things to do. I didn't have time to stop for the sunset! My outside voice said "I've been busy."

]]> grdnguru1@aol.com (Erica Shaffer) Blog Thu, 22 Mar 2012 22:58:34 +0000 Breaking up is hard to do. http://www.highlandgardens.org/Blog/breaking-up-is-hard-to-do.html http://www.highlandgardens.org/Blog/breaking-up-is-hard-to-do.html Dear (insert plant name here),

Yes, I will admit, I thought you were just the thing when I first saw you. You were in a line of others, all looking the same, but you stood out. Somehow, you were different. You wanted to go home with me.

]]> grdnguru1@aol.com (Erica Shaffer) Blog Sun, 04 Mar 2012 13:01:50 +0000 In Limbo http://www.highlandgardens.org/Blog/in-limbo.html http://www.highlandgardens.org/Blog/in-limbo.html  Well here we are. Standing in the starting gate, impatient, excited, and ripe with possibility. A few warm days was all it took. Soon. Sooooon.

]]> grdnguru1@aol.com (Erica Shaffer) Blog Sun, 26 Feb 2012 14:31:56 +0000 It was prettier in the catalog.... http://www.highlandgardens.org/Blog/it-was-prettier-in-the-catalog.html http://www.highlandgardens.org/Blog/it-was-prettier-in-the-catalog.html Yes, I will admit, even I have tried some mail order plant stuff. They hit us in our weakest moment. As we open the mailbox in mid January, there they are: bright, shiny, pictures of our beloved. Wiping the frozen drool from our chins, we head to our favorite chair.

]]> grdnguru1@aol.com (Erica Shaffer) Blog Mon, 13 Feb 2012 19:32:46 +0000