Log House Life

When the house gets thirsty, give it a drink.

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 22:06:27 -0400

My house faces due south. The gambrel roof shades the front porch, so only a small bit of the addition gets the full force of the sunlight. The gable ends of the house, especially the two-story west- and east-facing facades, bear the brunt of the weather. Think of your skin outside, all day every day, without frequent applications of sunblock or moisturizing cream, and you begin to get an idea of how our house feels. Every five, or six, or...

The flowers that bloom in the Fall, tra la.

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 13:28:00 -0400

Invasive. When a gardener tells you a plant is invasive, and asks you if you still want it, you should think carefully before you jump up and down and say yes, please, I've got lots of room. I'll take ten. Trust me on this. Those tall flowers in the photo above? Aster tartaria. Beautiful purple blossoms with yellow centers, six or seven feet off the ground. The plants bloom in late September, making them a boon to perennial borders filled...

Butterfly bush redux.

Lydia (The Perfect Pantry) — Wed, 28 Sep 2011 18:30:00 -0400

In June, Nagisa, the daughter of our dear friend Rika, spent a week with us after completing a year of study abroad in Vancouver. Nagisa lives in a small village on the west coast of Japan, so we hadn't seen her for many years, and we were excited to host her at the log house. So that we'd always have a little piece of her with us, we decided to plant something perennial in the garden. Nagisa and I visited...