tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860Sun, 07 Mar 2010 02:48:27 +0000a journey in light, texture, and color beyond my front doorhttp://incitegardening.com/noreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)Blogger28125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-4839883973571870473Sun, 27 Dec 2009 22:59:00 +00002010-01-09T20:22:40.998-05:00Book ReviewI need a book stand for my new book, the Hostapedia. I knew the book was big – just not this heavy – 9.8  pounds. Hosta collectors will find the Hostapedia much more than just a compilation of hosta facts. When you combine author Mark Zilis’ education and real life experiences with his attention to details, you can be assured that he is more than qualified to assemble an 1100 page reference http://incitegardening.com/2009/12/hostapedia-is-big-must-have.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-503172803301095058Sun, 13 Dec 2009 17:29:00 +00002009-12-13T15:03:56.599-05:00Garden AdventuresAbout MeCan you visit a garden any season of the year and appreciate its beauty? I know many people that only focus on the flowers. However a die-hard gardener like myself can see beyond the bloom to the structure and bones of the garden. This weekend I found an unexpected surprise in New Hampshire - a sleeping rooftop garden at the Mount Washington Resort. The Mount Washington, a beautiful hotel built http://incitegardening.com/2009/12/sleeping-rooftop-garden.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-5591566663975815402Sun, 29 Nov 2009 02:10:00 +00002009-12-12T06:43:12.807-05:00My ViewGarden AdventuresGarden tours can be very inspirational. They can fuel your passion for gardening and they are a great way to get new design ideas. Have you ever gone on a tour and compared and contrasted the tour gardens against your own? You might find this exercise helpful if you have some specific objectives for your gardens. For example, perhaps you are working to build the bones of your garden; shrubs andhttp://incitegardening.com/2009/11/garden-inspiration.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-2249612793829482799Sun, 22 Nov 2009 20:42:00 +00002009-11-22T15:51:18.880-05:00My Garden Here's my entry for the November "Picture This" photo contest hosted by Gardening Gone Wild.  I was inspired by last night's frost which made for some great early morning photography today.  Check out Gardening Gone Wild to see some of the creative contest entries and view all my frosted pictures here.http://incitegardening.com/2009/11/frosted-its-end-of-line.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-8694340781919971060Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:12:00 +00002009-12-12T06:29:58.386-05:00My ViewMy Garden Today I woke up to a beautiful frosty morn. As I viewed my gardens from the window, I felt like I was in a black and white dream.  The scene looked liked a lot like photos taken with infrared film. Only this was not a dream, it was real and all the color in the garden was an eerie dream-like hazy white. I picked up my camera and tried to capture the effect. I had to work fast because like a http://incitegardening.com/2009/11/frosted.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-6401257700474879280Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:51:00 +00002009-11-15T15:54:07.512-05:00Bloom DayMy GardenJust when I thought my only remaining garden pleasures were about fondling the dirt and removing dead foliage as I prepare for next spring...I found a number of blooming surprises as I worked in my northeast gardens this morning. I usually consider Allium Thunbergii the last to bloom each fall... As you will see in the following pictures, that is not so this November. Echinacea Coconut Lime http://incitegardening.com/2009/11/bloom-day-november-2009.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-2157911299730154376Mon, 02 Nov 2009 00:50:00 +00002009-11-05T18:54:29.694-05:00Shrubs and TreesMy View Last summer I added my first Daphne to my garden – and this summer I fell in love. I selected Daphne x transatlantica Summer Ice for the white rimmed gray-green leaves and the long blooming period, early spring to frost. All the photographs here were taken just today, November 1st. When I decided to add a Daphne to the garden, many people suggested Carol Mackie; a beautiful spring blooming http://incitegardening.com/2009/11/summer-ice-thats-nice.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-7169594176309878534Thu, 22 Oct 2009 01:05:00 +00002009-11-14T17:42:09.902-05:00My GardenAbout Me Don’t be horrified - I threw out some hosta this week. The plants had no names, were unhealthy, not attractive or were not performing well. None of the plants are featured in these photos. Collecting hostas should be about quality not quantity - right? I’m collecting big, beautiful, luscious leafy plants. It’s all about the foliage and not about collecting names. When I began collecting, I http://incitegardening.com/2009/10/collecting-requires-discipline.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-5641445355837388562Tue, 06 Oct 2009 01:11:00 +00002009-10-05T21:36:00.538-04:00My GardenAbout Me This has been quite the year for slugs and snails – yes snails. I don’t remember ever seeing a snail any place other than the beach – until this year. I have slugs and snails galore – and of course they love Hosta. You might think that I grow a slug smorgasbord; after all – 300 hostas provide a lot of big luscious leaves to chew on and plenty of dark, damp places to hide under. One slug can http://incitegardening.com/2009/10/slugzilla-x-100000.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-6701684513668776463Mon, 22 Jun 2009 01:12:00 +00002009-06-21T21:46:12.505-04:00I was in hosta heaven last weekend – attending the American Hosta Society's First Look event – which included some wonderful garden tours and a large number of vendors selling the latest and greatest hosta. However the real reason I attended was for the main event – the First Look competition – an opportunity for hosta aficionados to showcase potential new introductions and gauge audience http://incitegardening.com/2009/06/first-look-at-future-hostas.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-2338646537403528597Sun, 31 May 2009 10:40:00 +00002009-05-31T13:38:29.769-04:00About Me Each weekend at least one stranger pulls into my driveway to tell me how much they like my gardens. Normally they are looking for an opportunity to take a closer look. I like the attention and love chatting with other passionate gardeners. However, this weekend was different. It was a beautiful morning and I was weeding and rearranging my out-of-control sunny border. Dirty from head to toehttp://incitegardening.com/2009/05/gardener-interrupted.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-2923928045004580299Tue, 19 May 2009 02:29:00 +00002009-05-19T21:22:44.644-04:00My Garden Some people count hosta eyes. Hosta eyes you ask? Yes, the little nubs that poke through the ground in the spring. These little pointy darlings house the leaves that unfurl to create a beautiful hosta. A serious Canadian hosta collector, Ghislain Seguin, frequently wrote on the online hosta forums about his hostas eyes. Each spring he counts and records the number of eyes each plant has to trackhttp://incitegardening.com/2009/05/hosta-tour-beautiful-eyes.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-2725846341405605111Tue, 28 Apr 2009 01:43:00 +00002009-04-27T22:09:12.064-04:00My Garden I wander'd lonely as a cloudThat floats on high o'er vales and hills,When all at once I saw a crowd,A host, of golden daffodils;Beside the lake, beneath the trees,Fluttering and dancing in the breeze. Continuous as the stars that shineAnd twinkle on the Milky Way,They stretch'd in never-ending lineAlong the margin of a bay:Ten thousand saw I at a glance,Tossing their heads in sprightly dance. http://incitegardening.com/2009/04/daffodils-by-william-wadsworth.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-7567650510923078907Sat, 25 Apr 2009 00:32:00 +00002009-04-24T20:42:59.207-04:00My Garden http://incitegardening.com/2009/04/spring-color-and-texture.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-3059867382989409622Sun, 12 Apr 2009 23:47:00 +00002009-04-12T20:35:25.545-04:00My ViewMy GardenI love spring. I love the little surprises that pop out of the ground – signs of life in the brown landscape. Spring offers hope; new beginnings in the garden. However spring also brings a mixed bag when it comes to the weather in the northeast. While others in warmer zones post about growing gardens, it has been cold here and my plants are slow to emerge. Strong winds this spring have made it http://incitegardening.com/2009/04/springs-ups-and-downs.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-3646933006184695325Thu, 19 Mar 2009 00:12:00 +00002009-03-18T20:19:22.776-04:00Shrubs and Trees http://incitegardening.com/2009/03/wordless-wednesday-pussy-willows-sign.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-2756374880858462595Tue, 10 Mar 2009 01:38:00 +00002009-03-12T19:05:41.142-04:00Shrubs and TreesGarden Adventures Witch Hazel is one of the earliest blooming shrubs in the Northeast. This winter flowering plant has been used for hundreds of years for tea and tinctures to treat insect bites, swelling, sore muscles and more. However this weekend, the blooming Witch Hazels at Tower Hill Botanic Garden were an effective treatment for the winter blues.Hamamelis x intermedia 'Diane' Hamamelis x intermedia 'Ruby http://incitegardening.com/2009/03/sweet-scented-winter-flowers.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-1078115908334365174Sat, 28 Feb 2009 20:23:00 +00002009-03-01T08:05:12.933-05:00The information center guide leaned over like he had a secret to share. I had just inquired about the Key West Botanical Garden and he asked, “Do you really like gardens?” When I shook my head vigorously in the affirmative he said, “You’ll have to check out the Secret Garden.” I was all ears. What gardener can resist visiting a “secret garden”? Nancy Forester’s Secret Garden is a gem in the http://incitegardening.com/2009/02/secret-garden-in-key-west.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-3478793479027015621Sat, 21 Feb 2009 17:59:00 +00002009-02-21T14:49:15.028-05:00My ViewGarden AdventuresGardeners face interesting and often frustrating challenges every day. Many of those challenges are unique to the region they live in. Visiting and talking with gardeners in other regions of the United States have helped to put my own garden challenges in perspective. The Florida Keys’ tropical, balmy weather supports lush, rapid growth much of the year. Rapid growth has its own problem – http://incitegardening.com/2009/02/garden-challenges-unique-to-region.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-7686306699858485091Sun, 01 Feb 2009 16:54:00 +00002009-02-01T12:56:51.072-05:00My ViewThere is a virus in the “hosta world” that is at epidemic proportions. The virus is known as Hosta Virus X (HVX). And unlike the common cold, hostas that catch this virus will not get better with time.A number of years ago it was discovered that the unusual mottling and markings on a few newly registered hosta varieties were not new varieties with interesting leaves, they were actually hostas http://incitegardening.com/2009/02/chilling-facts-about-hosta-virus.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-2256340780695974437Mon, 19 Jan 2009 23:53:00 +00002009-01-20T19:58:01.666-05:00Creating winter interest is one garden goal I have been working on for a couple of years. I want to enhance my past design efforts and add more bones, or shrubs and trees, for a more interesting winter landscape. It's hard to appreciate what I have accomplished to date when everthing is buried under a couple feet of snow.So much for winter interest because all I see is white. This Steeds Holly http://incitegardening.com/2009/01/bury-bones.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-8095869794232949744Sun, 11 Jan 2009 15:21:00 +00002009-01-11T17:44:38.110-05:00My ViewMy GardenNow there’s a scary thought, a Roomba type mower to cut your lawn. Imagine setting a lawn mowing robot loose on a Saturday afternoon; saving lots of time for more interesting garden activities. I can come up with a long list of things I would do with the time saved. However, the maternal gardener in me says, NOT SO FAST!If anyone watched Paul James' TV show, Gardening by the Yard this morning, http://incitegardening.com/2009/01/roomba-for-lawn.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-506831183909549263Sun, 04 Jan 2009 16:27:00 +00002009-01-11T13:55:35.509-05:00Garden AdventuresThere is a beautiful barrier beach known as Plum Island only a few miles from my home. Because it is a barrier beach, the land and ecosystem are at the mercy of the restless winds and waters that shape and change this area over time. Nature is in control and offers ever changing beauty to all those who visit.This eight mile barrier beach is sandwiched between the Parker River to the southand the http://incitegardening.com/2009/01/natures-garden-on-barrier-beach.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-3586804048008814965Sun, 28 Dec 2008 19:50:00 +00002008-12-28T17:17:29.726-05:00About MeThis year all my Santas were very generous with the garden gifts. From the appropriately named Silver Bells trellis to the high quality Felco pruning sheers, I received many items only a gardener would love.I am very excited about trying out my Muck Boot shoes. They feel very comfortable, cover my whole foot and they are waterproof! These new shoes should take care of the problem I had with my http://incitegardening.com/2008/12/toys-for-gardener.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4050564473610127860.post-8525917263140074854Mon, 22 Dec 2008 00:20:00 +00002008-12-23T19:52:45.830-05:00My GardenDesigning with white in the garden can be rewarding and challenging. In the sunny border, white compliments other brightly colored flowers. In the shade garden, it can brighten a dark corner. However white can be a little tricky to work with too.I have quite a few shade gardens featuring my hosta collection. The white and green variegated hosta make a nice focal point when placed in a sea of http://incitegardening.com/2008/12/white-in-garden.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Hostabuff, Zone 6a)3