The Garden Buzz

Where in the World is The Garden Buzz?

2012-05-30T06:01:43-07:00

Promised posts have not materialized. Unpacking boxes proved only part of the problem since moving, other fiascoes I won't mention here, keep thwarting me from blogging. And now I'm on the road again...to my usual haunt...Savannah.

No one goes to Savannah in the summer unless they have a real good reason. It's truly hot. Tropical storms don't help matters. However Hannah is graduating from SCAD with her master's degree and an outstanding academic award so I will grit my teeth and brave the heat and humidity with as much grace as I can muster.

After a home-cooked meal at the in-laws in Illinois, we are back in Franklin, Tennessee. We like to stop here and eat at Puckett's Grocery then cruise the streets oohing and ahhing at all the historical homes in this precious, well-preserved small town. Of, course Hannah's always hoping for a glimpse of Jack White, who owns a farm outside of town. Rumor has it he stops by the Starbucks.

All we encountered were torrential rains followed by a double rainbow stretching the length of the sky. So many gorgeous gardens, for now I'll leave you with a few rainy, grainy late evening shots of a personable front yard I noted...

Love the blackboard on the porch with the Ralph Waldo Emerson quote. And yes that's a shopping cart.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: May 15, 2012

2012-05-15T16:48:05-07:00

Those of you used to my lush gardens and luscious photos may be disappointed this Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

It's been a week since we moved into our temporary abode. Back at our old house (and gardens) I bet there are blooms in abundance; purple lollipops of alliums, bright shades of Mandarin Lights azaleas and fragrant rugosa roses to name a few. But that's in the past. I am officially in limbo, a horticultural lull I'm still getting used to.

As is the case with rental houses, there are few flowers, a couple of May Night salvias are struggling to bloom in the shady front yard. Two troughs of pansies leftover from the "house staging" are all that's going on this GBBD.

Pansies on the front porch The Garden Buzz

Did I bring some plants with me besides the pansies?

Well that's a sore subject. Sometime this week I'll be doing a blog post on "How Not to Transplant Tree Peonies". Otherwise I dug up a few small shrubs, roses and hydrangeas with permission from the new owners. (I hope to place them in the new gardens once our house is built.) Two clumps of the irreplaceable mystery alliums followed me here. And last but not least a half dozen alpine strawberry plants are now edging what I'm calling the "Make-Do Kitchen Garden". More on that soon as well.

The good news is that my new neighborhood is chock full of gardeners. And if I ever finish unpacking boxes I'll be once again "borrowing" blooms for GBBD. In fact there might be a late installment of bloom day since a short walk down the street today revealed some irresistible irises.

A Dandy New Neighborhood

2012-05-04T12:48:51-07:00

I've been between neighborhoods this week, moving out, moving in. We were fortunate to find a house to rent very near our building site, like, next door. I'll have the catbird seat for the whole process.

Our new hood is a great area, very village-y, and dare I say a bit like "Star's Hollow", for those of you who remember the ever-bantering Gilmore Girls.

There are gracious lawns and generous flower beds, welcoming front porches and across the street there's a tire swing. Yesterday we came upon three little girls picking dandelions and carrying them around by the fistful. And then I saw two more clutching the same yellow bundles at different times today.

Too bad I couldn't have taken a photo. Instead here's a field of the sunny flowers at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, if you're not too dazzled by the crabapples.

What a difference to see someone enjoying the the little loved/hated flowers, and not obsessing about their demise. I know they can seem unsightly in certain circumstances, but they are an important first source of nectar to early insects seeking out food. Plus I think they're kinda cheerful.

While I'm busy packing and unpacking why don't you check out this link to last year's post I did over at Herb Companion magazine, Three Reasons to Love Dandelions.

We've Sold Our Home...and Therefore My Garden

2012-04-30T05:24:51-07:00

You have probably noticed the new blog design, it's not quite complete. After you read further, you'll see why it's still a work in progress.

You might have also noticed I've been a little absent, and maybe absent-minded as well lately. I haven't posted with my usual regularity or conviction at times. I like to think that's only recently. Well I have what I think is a valid excuse.

Each year our nest is a little emptier. And you know that expression, "rattling around a big old house"? Well it's true. It's time to live somewhat simpler.

The minute I returned from Savannah, I went into high gear getting our home ready to sell. Scrubbing, de-cluttering, fluffing, clearing, hauling, polishing and prepping. It was all to get the house camera-ready for its closeup and the scrutiny of would-be buyers.

And then a little miracle occurred. We sold it before we listed it.

That meant we have had to go quickly, from sold to moving out in 30 days, into another kind of high gear, finding a temporary place (and garden) to live while we start the next chapter of our life. More about that in future postings.

This means I'll be saying good bye to my garden. Though that's sad, I'm already looking forward to having a new garden that will be a bit smaller, flatter and more neighborhood-y. Yes, I already know where it will be, I just have to start imagining it.

I will miss my critters possibly more than my plants. I can't even begin to list them all; turkeys, eagles, turtles, otters, deer, owls, crows, coyotes, etc . However I have written about many of them in my Star Tribune "Your Voices" blog and what they have taught me about nature and life.

But I find great consolation in the fact that the youngest daughter of the new owners is a budding bird watcher who can't wait to come enjoy all my feathered friends. It has made the transition so much easier in my mind.

So let's take one last look around the garden through these past five years...

...And say goodbye.

The Garden Buzz is an eCollege Finder Top Garden Blog!

2012-04-23T15:57:50-07:00

Last time I googled it, there were over 152 million blogs in the world. So it goes there are a gazillion garden blogs. Anytime you get noticed is a gift.

So it's quite nice to know The Garden Buzz has been selected as one of 51 of the Top Garden Blogs by the website, eCollegeFinder. Why 51? I have no idea.

Why eCollegeFInder wants to recognize garden blogs? They do a list of special category blogs from time to time and tie it in with holidays and college student interests. This time it's for Earth Day, Arbor Day and National Garden Week.

If you do enjoy reading my advice and adventures in gardening, can I ask that you vote for The Garden Buzz at this page? http://blog.ecollegefinder.org/garden-blogs-award/ There's no sign up or account involved.

You will have to scroll down the alphabetical list a ways to get to The Garden Buzz. You might even find a few other garden blogs to check out in the process. But hey, vote for me!

And coming soon....the new design for The Garden Buzz.

Happy Earth Day 2012

2012-04-22T08:03:05-07:00

Wherever you live...

...at the beach...

...on the prairie...

...the woods and lakes..

...the big city..

...or the farm...

Happy Earth Day!

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day: April 15

2012-04-14T14:47:21-07:00

The Garden Buzz

Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May according to Shakespeare, but it's still April. Other years I might be trudging through snow, but the crazy early spring of 2012 has me on my hands and knees trying to steady the camera while a stiff breeze stirs the buds on the branches, the tiny blossoms above the leaves.

In keeping with the diminutive theme I brought out the macro lens looking for the softness of petals, a ruffle, a starburst, the structure behind the bloom.

Baby bleeding hearts The Garden Buzz

Redbud buds The Garden Buzz

Daffodil 'February Gold' The Garden Buzz

Tulip bud above stripy purple foliage The Garden Buzz

Blueberry blossoms The Garden Buzz

Does anyone know this fruit blossom?

The ground-hugging bloom of wild ginger

Red currant blossoms The Garden Buzz

Sweet smelling pachysandra flowers

And can anyone guess this harbinger of spring?

A New Gardener, or Becoming Your Mother

2012-04-03T13:48:08-07:00

Spring has sprung early everywhere, but especially in Minnesota where it has caught me with a backlog of "down south" stories still to be told, before I can even start on planning and planting up here...

...There is that moment, somewhere in your forties usually, where you catch sight of your mother in a shop window reflection, maybe a photo and then you realize, oh, that's me. Sometimes it's when you catch yourself repeating some familiar saying of hers, at other times it's a certain expression set on your increasingly lined face.

It's way before her time, but watching (and guiding) my daughter create her first garden was like a backward progression of this phenomenon.

It all started last year at the GWA conference when she accompanied me there on our way to visit her brother at his new school. As a budding food writer she found lots of helpful info and parallels at this garden writers gathering. And to my surprise she was right up there when they were handing out the sample plants.

So last fall I helped her plant up a large pot with all her swag, the centerpiece being the cute new Colocasia Bikini-Tini elephant ears. I gave her my sample as well since she's in zone 8. Lucky gal.

A green lizard looking for bugs or bead of water in her elephant ears.

The adorable elephant ears are thriving in her mild climate in Savannah, although I had to scold her for letting them dry out and water them a few times for her this winter when she got busy. Though I will admit, part of her being busy was my extended stay, which necessitated many trips to Tybee Island, countless cooking experiments, forays for cupcakes at our favorite bakery and general larking around. It's a wonder she's getting her thesis done and that I finished several articles while I was there.

One of our expeditions took us to Herb Creek Nursery in nearby Sandfly where I took a few surreptitious shots of their gorgeous succulents to complete my upcoming article in Northern Gardener. She fell hard for the succulents and before I knew it we were trekking around finding inexpensive containers for all of them.

Echeveria, Senecio and Sedum succulents The Garden Buzz

She learned some hard realities of container gardening; potting soil costs money and so do pots. I told her to keep an eye out for other items that could be re-purposed for pots. The next day at Target she did one of those SNL-style "Tuurrrget Lady" turns when she spied the cheap enamel Easter tins and said will these work? Next she was onto galvanized buckets at Home Depot.

More Senecio or chalk fingers in a simple bucket The Garden Buzz

She got our her handy-dandy drill to make holes for drainage and started planting. Soon we were back to the nursery for herbs. After all you can only purchase so much thyme at the grocery store for her favorite Ina Garten chicken recipes before it gets ridiculous.

Hannah's new garden, on her carriage house patio. That's an old horse mounting block, great for staging pots.

Such a sight in her pink apron and red wellies, bent over a pot with her hands all dirty, a new gardener is born, following many generations before her. Her grandmother's Bakelite bracelets clicking on her wrist as she wrestled those succulents into the soil made me want to cry.

Familiar sights and sounds

I always assumed she would start gardening, but not this soon. Now our phone calls include her pressing plant issues along with Savannah gossip and cooking questions.

It all gives me hope. Does this mean there's a possibility my son might feel the need to plant something, someday too?

Enjoying her new garden. Yes, she added a whiskey barrel with tomatoes and basil too!

Cool Interactive Map: What's in Season?

2012-03-27T17:32:08-07:00

Seems everyday someone wants to send me a product or pitch to review. I haven't been doing any reviews lately. While redesigning The Garden Buzz, I've been also re-evaluating whether I want to engage in the more commercial aspect of blogging. When it comes down to everything, I am foremost a writer, a photographer, who just happens to blog.

And then I got this little gem in my email. I'll make an exception. With farmer's market season gearing up across the country, this might come in handy..

What Fruits and Veggies Are In Season? Courtesy of WEBstaurant Restaurant Supplies

The Dirt on Jane: Much More Than a Garden-Variety Memoir

2012-03-13T21:33:57-07:00

Most days you'll find Jane Fishman working on her compost. She totes it in buckets in the back of a Taurus wagon from garden to garden, you see, she has three, in different parts of the city. It's that rich, crumbly moisture-conserving concoction that allows her to tend this lush garden in the actual "shade of a freeway" without any water source.

Yet it may be the free-fashioned art that catches your eye first. Found objects are repurposed and reimagined as garden decor. A tower of racially diverse dolls weathering into the same shade, a border of shovel heads and wine bottle edging amid a mashup of Mardi Gras beads; somehow it all works.

Late winter kale, broccoli and collards grow in island-shaped clumps around the industrial site turned Eden. Plum and loquat trees bear fruit with real wreckless abandon. Her latest fascination, fava beans are spotted here and there, at various stages of flowering, the quantity of black and white blooms promising a huge harvest.

A geurilla gardener before the term was even coined, she has lived and planted wherever her whims have taken her. Landing in Savannah, GA she worked as a reporter for years, one that knows "where the bones are". Now she justs wants to garden, although she still writes an engaging weekly column.

Her latest book, The Dirt on Jane, is more than mere gardening memoir, it's about aging, the fear of aging and forgiveness as she journeys between gardens, a late-in-life interlude at grad school and the nursing home attending to her mother's last years. Coming to terms with her mom in the years after coming out, she struggles with and strives to enjoy the often complicated mother-daughter dynamic.

Set in the south but universal in appeal, you can buy The Dirt on Jane by Jane Fishman from The Book Lady, 6 East Liberty in downtown Savannah or at www.lulu.com

For another great book recommendation from my travels in Savannah, check out the Back in the Day Bakery Cookbook on my Star Tribune community blog. A delicious read that just so happens to have a NE Minneapolis connection.