The Sweet Cherry Tree In Autumn

Website Focus: How To Improve Your Garden

My garden website, on the web since 1998, is all about helping people make the most out of their home garden. Ilona’s Garden is geared toward every homeowner who wants to improve their own gardens in a personal way and there is plenty of information on deciding your style and growing your plants.

“You can become your own landscaper!”

is what I always say. I was always interested in designs, especially when it comes to perennial gardening, so I have written quite a bit about what I’ve learned on that topic.

The garden changes constantly, and I have changed too, although at a slower pace. Dealing with garden challenges, growing plants well, reflect that journey.

Ilona’s Garden, Now

The site is growing. My writing here inspires many articles I create elsewhere, especially in the Home and Garden category. I write on Substack now, with “Peace in the Garden”. Just this year, 2026, I decided to replace the “Garden Enthusiasm” newsletter with the publishing of the Substack site.

The Garden Librarian is still live, while I collapsed down other experiments over the years. Reviews for books and garden tools  are the main content.

Going Backwards

Want to know the story of the garden website that began almost 14 years ago?

That is my sweet cherry tree in the top photo, by the way. Don’t you love the autumn colors of its leaves?

• Landscaping 101, A Mini Course
  Start your landscape skills here with a mini course in the most important things to know about designing your own property.

Fine Gardening Inspiration – A Great Garden Magazine

There are so many garden books and magazines that you may feel there are just too many to try to choose from. With sites like mine delivering garden how-to and plant information instantaneously, why bother with buying a magazine?

If it is one like ‘Fine Gardening’, then the answer lies in the top quality photographs of the very best gardens, and a compact feature of expert garden advice rolled into a pleasurable read. I always get great ideas from reading the pages of articles about successful and inspired gardeners.

Discover Ilona’s Garden – Interested in touring Ilona’s Garden?

The more I wrote about gardening and plants the more I realized I had to focus in on my area, Central Ohio gardening. The topic of gardening is just too broad for most writers, even highly trained experts in horticulture, to cover well. And while I enjoy reading a “kitchen sink” type of reference book, what I usually need is specific advice on the situations and challenges my garden faces. So, I figured that is what others most need, as well.

If you are a gardener anywhere, then any of my design pages will be useful, since design concepts aren’t bound by climate or soil restraints. If you need plant suggestions for the Midwest, my site can help you with experienced advice and information.

Find what you are looking for in the Archives/sitemap

Photo of my driveway plantings

Pages you can find on my site

• Make a Fairy Garden: You will be enchanted- and it is a fun project for children.
• Flowers- Annuals and Perennials: growing annuals or perennials in the garden, general info, garden ideas, lists of favorites…
• Find Herb Garden and Herb Plants Info: design your herb garden or grow a certain herb plant, right this way….
• The Victorian Garden: Example of the history and description of a garden style. Have a Victorian home?
• Trees for Ornament and Shade: the best and most lasting investment in your landscape….
• Garden Tasks & Tips: Each month has chores and tips for growing a great garden….
• Garden Tools for the Beginner: you don’t need every tool available- good advice on buying tools
• The Prairie Garden: Few of us will ever see a true prairie like the pioneers of old had seen, but we still have the plants, and many of those are ideal for challenging conditions

An Old Photo Of My Garden

My garden, a decade ago

Who Influenced My Garden and the Writing?

Besides my Grandma

If you read my About page on the site you get the whole story of how I was inspired to love gardening from both sides of the family, but I think that certain garden writers had a great influence on me. One of the most recent is in the video on this hub, Tracy DiSabato-Aust. The interesting thing is that she has her home and personal garden not far from where I live. Her ideas of making a garden are what I am now using more in changing it from its labor intensive style.

The garden and my garden writing were both influenced by an author not many will remember, Helen Van Pelt Wilson. She was an American garden author with enthusiasm, experience, and a way of sharing her knowledgeable insights through her own garden; as in ‘Helen Van Pelt Wilson’s Own Garden and Landscape Book’. I believe that is what I now most try to do in writing the articles, even the rather dry plant and cultivation descriptions, which I try to enliven with personal opinions, anecdotes, and tips I found to be of use.

I read many English authors, as well. Penelope Hobhouse, Margery Fish, and the venerable writings of Gertrude Jekyll have all left their mark on my conscious desire to make and share the making of a garden.

Do Not Underestimate Your Neighbors

When I lived in the city, it became apparent how much my neighbors and I encouraged and inspired each other to create beautiful gardens. It is a synergy that has to be experienced! Not so much “Keep up with the Joneses” as a brainstorm of ideas, sharing of plants, and mutual admiration. I will always be thankful for that group of people at that time in my life.

We were a motley crew in a rundown neighborhood, trying valiantly to restore our homes and give civility to our neighborhoods. There was something of a golden age to it, but eventually we all moved on and the darkness won… it returned to a place of transient renters, and absentee landlords. Sad, but the time of our success as a group stays with me.

Time marches on and neighbors move….

I moved into the country, my favorite neighbors moved to Canada, the couple from California- who were always motivating for more community spirit and activism- moved on, and eventually we all did. For me, it was when a crazy with a baseball bat took to smashing cars, and an undercover policeman pulled out his gun, while we stared with disbelief from our porch swing one summer evening. Still, I believe that if people are proactive enough, they can be a source of optimism to raise the bar for the entire area they live in.

So here is a salute to those gardeners of my old neighborhood, who were inventive, hardworking, generous, and believing. We made our places better for each other and those who visited our street…. back in the day.

You inspired me and made my gardening better than it would have been without you.

Join Me As I Share Inniswood Public Gardens with You

Online Garden Information – Your Opinions Matter

Is it just me or do you believe that online information is a mixed bag?

What is your favorite way to get the answer you need to your garden questions?

Are garden websites meeting your needs?

• Most garden information online seems sketchy, I am not sure I trust it
• I am in a hurry. I usually choose from the first page of google searches
• I liked the garden websites before they became mega sites
• I love the mega sites and one-stop information portals<
• I like the sites of my Garden TV favorites
• I don’t like garden information online -give me a book
• I keep my favorite garden sites bookmarked, those I trust
• I wish someone would get me a list of great garden sites
• I love all kinds of garden sites

Create Your Landscape Plan – Easy to use software

Don’t let a lack of drawing skills prevent you from creating a visual plan for your landscape. There are many software programs to use. If you know how to make dream boards or collages, those, too, could be drafted to put your ideas into a visual plan for your plantings.

One Minute Garden Tip

Buy Good Quality Garden Supplies – Good tools + good books= good garden

OK- you need to throw in some hard work, but…

Buy from those you trust… and that means tool and book suggestions. Has the person offering you advice actually gardened, themselves? Do they know what it is like to have a poor quality tool break at the handle, or look for information in a book that is pretty, but pretty useless? One thing that really improves the level of advice is topical experience. I chose Smith & Hawken products here because I have used them personally for years. When I see that name I think of good design and good quality.

Many photos are from my own garden

What You Can Find On My Garden Page

The Main Areas of Information

Style and Design Pages – Descriptions of popular garden styles and their characteristics, features and plants of that style of garden, and some how-to tips are all important topics for gardeners. I try to cover all those interests.

Styles like “Cottage gardening”, “New American”, “English style”, and “French Potager” are some articles available.

Plant Highlights and Profiles– Pages for the main types of plants: Annuals, Perennials, Bulbs, Trees and Shrubs, with highlight pages on my personal favorites. Profile posts giving plant descriptions, growing information ( height, width, hardiness zone, propagation, companion plants, and fun facts). Plant and flower photos.

“Learn to Grow It” pages– how to grow a simple herb garden, a starter vegetable patch, list of the best propagation info, and urban gardening pages… all kinds of growing-knowing stuff.

How the Garden (Site) Grew

First came the experiment in blogging, “Ilona’s Garden Journal on Blogger, in 2003. As garden writing progressed, and Ilona’s Garden grew, I transferred the personal gardening journal blog to its own site:

Garden blog with Ohio related posts.

Then I felt like opening another site to hold the product and book reviews. This became The Garden Librarian.

A sample of reviews:

CobraHead® Original Weeder & Cultivator Garden Hand Tool – Forged Steel Blade – Recycled Plastic Handle – Ergonomically Designed for Digging, Edging & Planting – Gardeners Love Our Most Versatile Tool

One of THE best weeders bar none. The only one I like better is a Cape Cod Weeder, and this one goes neck and neck with it. I do occasional reviews of products I use, and hope to increase that part of my garden writing because there are so many tools and books out there.
Buy Now

How Did I Live Without A Leaf Vacuum?
I love trees and my yard has lots of them. But when autumn comes, all that leaf litter needs something besides me to do the clean-up job. I have an opinion on which leaf vacuum is best.

To help pay for things like hosting, domain name fees, template costs, etc I have affiliate links. Whether connected to reviews or within the garden information content, I have links to helpful products and useful books on Amazon.

Start a Garden Bookshelf and Tool Collection – Everyone needs good tools and good resource books.

My Personal Garden Recommendations

On Amazon

I’ve selected books that I think are worth putting into your garden library, and chosen tools that will help you garden well.

Examples can be found at this link: Garden Advice for an English Style Garden.

Why Have Sales Onsite?

A website has costs that are partially supported by readers who use the affiliate links to buy on Amazon. I pay yearly costs for the domain name, hosting, an attractive theme, and some of the plugins which add function to the site.

I also buy gear and software memberships to make graphics for it; Adobe and canvas are just two of these. (Garden websites, especially, need many photos and illustrations.)

What Type of Links Are of Value to Readers?

Besides books, I have always tried to include links to expert and useful information on other websites. But since the garden topic space is so full of books of varying quality I have tried to weed through to find the best ones for my readers.

For books, the authors I’ve chosen to highlight are those who have influenced me tremendously. I think other gardeners will benefit from their books, too.

The Well-Designed Mixed Garden: Building Beds and Borders with Trees, Shrubs, Perennials, Annuals, and Bulbs

This is a garden author who hales from Ohio and offers some of the best gardening information for all levels of gardeners. Her books are a MUST for the bookshelf.

 Buy Now

Recommending Garden Tools

The tools I recommend are those that I really have used in my gardening experience over the years.

And there is nothing like a good solid trowel to really dig into your own yard gardening adventure. Some I have reviewed, but most simply are linked in my writing.

How The Site Got Started

…once upon a time in Geocities…

A son needed something constructive to do with his interest in computers and the internet, so he was assigned the task of setting up a personal website for his mother in 1998. Divided into sections that mirrored her life experiences, the garden section became the most updated and evolving part of the site. No surprise, since gardening had been a passion of hers for many years. Thus, “Ilona’s Garden” flowered from the sprouts of a desire to share “over the fence” garden advice and enthusiasm.

How did it look back then? Check the wayback machine.

Eventually, in 2007, it was decided (by me, finally) that it was time for its own domain -to take this garden website writing seriously!

After moving the original pages to ilonasgarden.com, the detour into blogging made WordPress the obvious choice to use for continuing the site ( which is run, written and composed by one person, Ilona). Garden writing demands photo illustrations, so that is one effort that is seeing more development. Photos from wonderful sources such as morguefile and Flickr Creative Commons are a real boon, too.

Today the site is growing with special emphasis placed on getting plant profiles published of plants grown in Ilona’s Garden. Branching out into articles on Urban and Food gardening, the gardening of her roots is finding space, as well.

You are always welcome at Ilona’s Garden.

I highly recommend a premium theme for those who use WordPress:

Elegant themes

I am finding this format easy to use. Today I added a link to my navigation which goes to my Amazon Storefront. I unfortunately messed up my entire Amazon associate account so that I have not earned anything for about a year. No idea what I did, but it is connected with becoming an “influencer” in their network.

Like the Medium website, Substack allows for a limited customization of its format. So I changed the title fonts and looked at different styles for the home page. Not ready for those since I have three posts, and one coming. I will look into other edits once I have a body of work.

Because it drops, newsletter-style, into your email I am spacing out the posts. One maybe two a week, or every two weeks, depending on how people respond to the frequencies.

Latest post:

I noticed Dee Nash from Red Dirt Ramblings is changing her format to Substack, now (since 2025); and she mentions the hope of creating a blogging style community like in the “old days” for garden blogging.

I was hoping for that, too, but we’ll see. Substack certainly is set up for it.

In the next month I am going to experiment and try out creating a podcast recording for the gardening newsletter.

• • Visit Ohio’s Beautiful Public Gardens
  • 10 Best Perennials for Anyone’s Garden
  • Hungarian Braided Coffee Cake
  • Calla Lilies for an Elegant Winter Wedding Theme
  • Ilona’s Favorite Chocolate Desserts
  • My 5 Finger Shoe Review
  • Franz Liszt And Romantic Mania

Obviously not all those are garden related, but you may find one or two to be of interest.

My Garden Journal

On the Home Garden Companion, the focus has turned to the Southern Garden experience. Discovering new plants for the garden, as well as adjusting to completely new conditions are the topics for now:

Why Can’t I Grow Things Here?

What happens when you start out in a new place? Well, for me, there has been a whole lot of failure….

Substack Start and Southern gardening

This introduces my Substack newsletter/post and gives a garden report (like in the old days)

The Main Site: Ilona’s Garden

I did a few new posts in Ilona’s Garden:

Loropetalum in Atlanta

Benches in the Garden

Top Shrubs to Grow in Atlanta

10 Tips for Your Front Yard

That is the latest work, while there might be more to be discovered since it has been a long time since updating the reporting on my Webwork!

I am muddling through learning a new platform: Substack. At first, it seemed to be something like blogging. Now, however it seems more like a newsletter -which is how the posts are sometimes described.

Which is it?

As in the days when first blogging, it is likely that it will evolve over time. Right now, I am writing short essays, but since podcasts and video are available, I will soon try out that. I may replace the newsletter from Mailchimp with it. I have never gotten used to using those styles of communication.

So-visit my Substack and subscribe for free, or try out supporting me through it. All the information is on the site.

Easy to subscribe-for free!

This article will be under construction for awhile. This first paragraphis to simply announce it…while following sections of this article will be updated as I learn my way around Substack.

I know I have started and then departed many new things in the past couple of years. But I have a strong intuition that Substack will be different. I has possibilities for podcasts, which highly interest me. It also seems to be a good fit for my blogging style of writing. Wish me the best, won’t you? And maybe we can become a community on the site. I named my gardening topic endeavor, “Peace in the Garden” which harkens back to when I first started Ilona’s Garden Journal on Blogger.

Here’s where you can follow along the journey:

Here is that first video, which I invite you to not only watch, but to comment…whether on what I had to say or improvement suggestions for the video.

The products I bought in the last two months, besides the new phone:

• Lighting -backlighting strip
• Mini wireless microphones
• Tripod
• Gimbal

Besides that list I have my working wishlist, which curates the gizmos that I will be purchasing soon. I put together a little graphic from my Amazon store as a “mood board/ideaboard” to keep me on track. Maybe my choices will interest you. The main criteria is economical (that is, within my limited budget), in tandem with the best results as reported by trusted Youtubers ( like Think Media)

Let me explain that graphic. The top three I already purchased:

• Insta360 Flow Gimbal for stabilization and other features;
• Tripod that is tall enough for stable video that is face height or from a distance
• Mini microphones that plug in directly to the phone

The remaining two are on my list of what to buy next. The phone case will replace the simply protective one I now have. Why? It is specially constructed to work with filters that I hope to get (not listed in this collection). They screw onto the case to securely hold them in place. I really want to get a filter called “Cinebloom” and maybe an Anamorphic Lens. I decided I wanted the Shiftcam brand, but Moment is just as good. I had a hard time deciding between the two, actually.

And the other thingy with the circle framework? Well, that is to hold the phone on different surfaces so I can take perspective shots of different types. Again, there are all sorts of things like this, some with arms and clamps, etc. But I thought the vacuum suction type would work best for what I envision.

Ilona’s Youtube Studio

My sunroom, which is where I am presently shooting “talking head” content, was used as a guest room over the holidays, which means I must set it up again for creating film. There really isn’t any studio yet, but it looks cozy and comfy, don’t you think?

Yes, I’m Serious This Time

I have determined to tackle this challenge of making a series of videos that culminate in an opus of work. Doesn’t that sound grand! But for someone who has never liked the camera much and feels awkward with video, that is saying a lot. I am not the person who is photographing every moment…. not even many moments. But that is now something for which I am intentionally taking aim (little pun… a very little pun…)

So, if you want to support my efforts and give me encouragement that are ways to do that….

• Subscribe to my channel, and/or give likes to the videos
• Use my Amazon links for your own purchases (it won’t cost you anything, but I might get a commission).
• You could donate directly through my paypal link.

Right now, I am paying for my own expenses which are considerable, with hosting fees coming due this year, etc. I really love creating, but I am feeling the financial pinch at the moment.

Which is why I am working hard on building the Amazon affiliate connection. I will likely report on some of the progress on that in the future.

To sum up here is my latest effort on my “Chalkboard” talk channel:

https://youtu.be/jKd3MIkXobU

I filmed a new video this past summer, and finally posting it today. The video update shares my journey and where the channel is expected to go this year, 2026. I intended to post it in the fall, but had to stay longer in Ohio than expected… then the holidays… and that last little bit of editing and finalizing delayed the output.

Which made me angry with myself. Not that I could do much differently, but I was supposed to start creating much more! At least I am publishing this in January.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jKd3MIkXobU

Take a look and give comments- is there anything you like or something that you would like me to change up? I was experimenting a bit, and that will continue as I try to find my style and my audience. I do like the colors in my “studio” which is actually the sunroom. Nice bright light.

This is money that paid for my hosting and theme on my sites. Which was reinvested in apps and equipment that is necessary for being online. In other words, I was running a hobby, not a business, but at least my retired husband didn’t have to underwrite it.

Now, in 2026, I am not sure what has happened to the small commissions I had from Amazon. I used to make the $10.00 payout every month or two. But now, there are no sales and haven’t been for many months. Not even many clicks.

I joined their “influencer” program around the time everything dried up, but I can’t seem to make a connection in the two events.

I thought the influencer was separate from the associates program. I still don’t understand how it works…

But I am scrambling to re-activate this part of my income, because I really like blogging and writing for the sites I have spent so many years creating. Hosting fees come up again this year. So I will try to post products that I use and like for my readers. And hopefully they will want to support me through patronizing my effort.

Here is one for today!

I found a beautiful wooden boar bristle brush that is quite reasonably priced. The issue isn’t with wanting to shop on Amazon or with the value of the products.

 

I fell in love with this set. It is so pretty and the natural bristles are gentle on the hair. The comb is a plus!

Trying to Rebuild

Trying to rebuild is difficult when ignorant of the downward cause. I went into my Amazon account and re-entered my sites. I made sure I was plastering the labels for my posts and links with the “I am an affiliate with Amazon and may earn a commission” alert.

But I don’t seem to have hardly any clicks- although there was one last month… and unsure how that happened.

In the meantime, I have been rebuilding the Christmas site, updating posts on other site (Ilona’s Garden, and My Reflecting Pool)

I’ve been moving the Hubpages posts onto my own sites.

And trying to post on Social media. Whew! Haven’t been sleeping much….

I Deserved Some Attrition

Because of my health problems, family dramas, and house moving… big reasons by any measure, I had ceased working online for intents and purposes.

So, I knew that eventually I would have to make up for lost time. But the depth of the drop surprised me.

This year averages 76% less than last year, in Adsense, and last years was usually a good 50% less than the year before. (Comparisons as reported by analytics.)

Hubpages went to pennies a month. And no Amazon share at all ( Hubpages management had steadily reduced that in previous years, not allowing more than a couple links that had to be shared income, anyway). I had accepted lots of this diminishing return as just part of the changes that were common in the internet space.

I am wondering if AI has anything at all to do with the present 2026 preciptitous drop. However, I have no way of understanding if, when, or how that may be the case.

The Silver Lining

The silver lining is not financial in nature, it isn’t a solution to what has happened, but it is a diversion of focus. For years I felt as if I should write a book, or two, – or more. But as I always seemed to be, I was stumped by my lack of understanding. I didn’t know how to start.

Well, nothing was taking first priority except the need to look for other ways to grow and be creative. I bought a program, “Scrivener”. Actually this is my second purchase, but I had started with the version which was so old it couldn’t even be updated…. even if I remembered which computer it had been on and which email I might have used some twenty or so years ago.

So I bought a new version and have promptly hunkered down to learn it.

Yes, It’s Hard

Not having used a word processor very much… only blog editors, I had a world of things to learn. a newbie again. But the years of learning platforms, html, and editor programs in graphics, etc, somehow have helped the learning pathways kick in.

So, I am writing a book. The old fashioned way, even though there are ads and videos everywhere on using AI.But I want to do this from the heart.

Continuing to rebuild a Business

In the meantime, I will continue to try to figure out how to earn from the hours, days, and years of content I have placed online so far.

News on that front will make its way to this blog.

I must apologize to those who read this, that it has been a dirge to the funeral of my online income.

Another Amazon link for those who wish to save money on shipping:

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