So the delicious drooly-baby-put-everything-in-the-mouth phase has begun with Vivian. Seriously? So. Cute. But also, the unexpected “I’m going to slobber all over your face” thing is not so cute. Funny, if it’s not you getting face-slobbered of course.

I want to eat your face!

This is why I was so glad we had some of the MAM teethers to take on our recent road trip. Vivian had a few chew toys for in the car seat, stroller, and around the house.

I’ve just fallen in love with the MAM products after getting some samples at the last Type-A Conference. We’ve been using their oral care products and pacifiers for awhile. Now that Vivian is at the grasp and chew phase we’re using the teething products every day.

Starter teething ring and clip. Road trip genius.

See the clip that holds them onto the baby clothes or car seat strap? Brilliance. This starter teether is super soft and has a fun textured surface and the ring shape is easy for early-grasping hands.

The cooler teething ring. A grip separate from the cold part is brilliant.

The MAM cooler is probably my favorite. It’s a step up from the starter teether and recommended for babies age 4 months and up. And you can place it in the refrigerator so the chewie part is cool, but the ring holder stays warmer so the baby doesn’t drop it. We could keep this in the ice chest while driving and then switch it out on our picnic pit stops.

She's chewing the wrong end in this picture, I know, but you can see it better this way.

The MAM Bite and Brush is easy to hold and has one-of-a-kind bristly cleaning portion that helps keep their first teeth cleaned. Have you heard of milk rot or juice rot from lack of oral care in babies? It can be a real problem. This teether doubles as a tooth cleaner. Very cool!

Give that baby a MAM teething ring!

It’s important to have some good teethers on hand for your babies. Otherwise they find their own. Follow MAM on Facebook for more information about teething and oral care.

Do you have a teething horror story? What helped your kids conquer teething woes?

I am a MAM ambassador and being compensated for these sponsored posts but that baby really did eat the rail when we forgot to bring the MAM teethers during the tour.

Photo Credit to timomcd on Flickr

You may know it as the toothpaste herb, but mint is a lot more than a flavor for your mouthwash, lozenge, or toothpaste.  Its fresh smell and taste add a lovely flavor to salads, smoothies, meat, and tea. Mint is very easy to grow. In fact, it grows so well that you may soon find it all over your garden.

Why Grow Mint?

Mint is delicious, and it’s good for you too! The plant is an antioxidant, and a stiff mint tea is excellent for colds and allergies. Dry it for tea, add a mint sauce to savory and meat dishes, or create your own homemade mint ice cream. In salads, mint pairs well with fruits like strawberries. In the spring and summer months, you can even add it to smoothies to give them some extra zip!

 Types of Mint

If you think that mint is just mint, think again! There are two main types of mint: peppermint and spearmint. Peppermint tends to have a somewhat stronger flavor, and it is the mint used to flavor mint tea and ice cream. Its taste is strong, cool, and sweet. Spearmint is a good fresh eating mint, with a milder flavor that is perfect for salads.

There are now a large number of mint hybrids to choose from. These hybrids taste like mint with a hint of something else. They also have a strong smell that often incorporates other fruits. Crush a leaf of chocolate mint, and you get a mixed chocolate and mint aroma. Lovely! If you’d like to try one of the most exotic mints, you can choose from pineapple, orange, apple, banana, lavender and chocolate mint.

If you have mint growing in your garden, chances are it is spearmint, since that is the most common variety. Spearmint has crinkled, textured leaves, while peppermint has smooth leaves.

Photo Credit to anythonycramp on Flickr

Planting Mint

To grow mint, buy a mint plant and allow it to spread to the size that you desire. Mint spreads very easily, growing through runners where its stems touch the ground.  It’s best to grow this plant in a taller container so it does not spread. If you plant mint in the ground, choose a large pot and bury it in the ground so that the mint roots do not extend beyond the pot.

Conditions for Growing Mint

Mint loves the sun. It can also tolerate the shade, but shade will make it leggy. It’s fond of moist soils and doesn’t like dry soil.

Mint Can Be Invasive

Mint is a plant with an enthusiastic attitude, and it is alternately beloved and despised by gardeners. Be cautious when you plant mint, or you will have a lovely, edible, but unintentional groundcover in your garden! Be sure to plant it in a place where it can be contained if you wish to contain it.

Beautiful shade plants under the tree plantings.

So y’all know I’m a big fan of gardens to begin with. But these were beautiful. Truly spectacular and well-maintained. I don’t even want to think about how much work goes into the Creation Museum gardens both in planning and execution. The winding paths bring you to a variety of garden landscapes that even in mid-spring were just lovely – I can only imagine what it will look like in another month or two.

I loved the bog garden with the misty water sprays and weathered wood accents.

Some of the gardens you will see include a bog garden (complete with carnivorous plants), Japanese meditation garden with koi pond, rainforest tropical garden, butterfly or hummingbird garden, and of course, the petting zoo.

We ditched the stroller for the joy of the floating bridge. Which we ran across three times it is THAT fun.

The gardens are able to be navigated by stroller via the paved walking path from the front of the Creation Museum. The suspension bridges can’t be crossed by stroller so the second day Sidney wore Vivian in the baby carrier and we carried her. There ARE bridges that can be crossed with the stroller or wheelchair though so you’d just have to go around the suspension bridges – all the gardens are handicapped-accessible.

Honeybees were hard at work in the butterfly garden.

And oh the gardens. Amazing gardens. You’ll be seeing photos from these gardens for months in future articles because I took about a thousand. (That’s not an exaggeration.)

The scruffy but adorable fellow is an alpaca and llama cross.

The petting zoo was nice – if you live in a rural area like I do you may find most petting zoos a bit of a yawn. Oh hey – more chickens. But this petting zoo focused a lot on unusual animals and hybrids from animals in the same kinds like the zorse (zebra horse cross) and alpaca-llama hybrid. There was also a wallaby and coatimundi in enclosures but not pettable.

Even the pond (lake?) was landscaped.

Oh! One more cool feature – the walking paths have call-in commentary you can access via cell phone. You can call the number and hear the information. Like a tour but at your own pace which makes it nice for the kids.

Throw a penny in the fountain and make a wish.

Photo: English Lavender (Ken Irwin)

It is very easy to make your own aromatherapy bath oils and salts. You do not even need base oil or salt to take a bath with essential oils: you can add essential oil directly into bath water. However, since a long soak dries the skin, and since some oils can irritate sensitive skin, it is a good idea to use carrier oils.

Sweet almond works for all skin types, is moisturizing and nourishing yet absorbs well. Alternatives include jojoba oil (especially good for oily or acne-prone skin) or peach/apricot kernel (light and absorb well).

Easy Homemade Bath Oils for Stress Relief

You do not have to have lots of different oils in the cupboard to enjoy a bath with essential oils. Commercial aromatherapy bath oils and salts can contain an incredible variety of ingredients, but you can make a simple bath blend with two or three essential oils. Even one is enough for a bath, but many essential oils enhance each others’ properties when blended together, and it is fun to create your own bath blends.

Add around six drops of essential oil(s) to one or two teaspoons of base oil, and mix with the bath water just before you get into the tub.

• 3 drops of Petitgrain (Citrus aurantium bigaradia)
• 3 drops of Lavender (Lavandula angustifolia/officinalis/vera)

Petitgrain oil comes from the leaves and twigs of the orange tree. It has a lovely refreshing scent, it blends well with many oils, and it is often used during times of low moods, winter blues and to help you sleep better. Lavender is one of the most versatile oils in aromatherapy and it is many aromatherapists’ first choice when treating sleeping problems or stress. It also relieves muscular aches and pains.

• 2-3 drops Frankincense (Boswellia carterii)
• 3-4 drops Sweet or Bitter Orange (Citrus aurantium var. dulcis/Citrus sinensis or Citrus aurantium var. amara/ bigaradia)

Frankincense has been used as incense in Christian churches and as an aid to meditation in cultures around the world. Frankincense essential oil can help to regulate breathing and to calm down the mind. It is an ideal oil for stressful times especially if you have a busy mind. It blends beautifully with orange essential oil: a cheerful oil that is sometimes used against sleeping difficulties.

• 2 drops Lavender
• 2 drops Marjoram (Origanum majorana)
• 2 drops Roman Chamomile (Matricaria recutita)

Marjoram relaxes tight muscles, improves local circulation and relieves aches and pains. Chamomile soothes the nerves and lavender gives you a good night’s sleep. Lavender also enhances the effect of other oils it is blended with.

If you use carrier oils in your bath blend, watch out for slippery bath tub surfaces when getting in and out of the bath, and clean the bath tub well to remove oil residue. Read more about aromatherapy baths in Tips for Using Essential Oils in the Bath and make sure you know How to Use Essential Oils Safely.

Photo: English Lavender (Ken Irwin)

Did you know nature has provided a grocery store in your own backyard?  I suspect that most of the weeds you mow, spray, and pull can actually sustain you in a major crises at worst, or supplement your fresh produce at best!

A very common briar, commonly called Greenbriar, is something Brer Rabbit loved,  but we tend to hate.  It is very persistent . . . very hard to kill . . .  ask me how I know!  But that can actually be a good thing!

The leaves, stems and roots are all edible!  The stems can be cooked like asparagus, the leavees like spinach and the roots can used pounded and ground, using the gelatin as a thickener!

Another weed that is extremely common – look in YOUR backyard – is Broadleaf Plantain.  This is NOT the banana-like fruit you can purchase at the store.  This is a free weed that has a multitude of food and medicinal uses.

Cook the leaves like spinach, even going so far as to using it in recipes such as spinach dip or Creamed Spinach.  Or add the leaves to a tossed salad.  Or ground the seeds into flour.  Or cook the seeds like rice.

Medicinally, plantain has so many uses that you really should cultivate it.  Put it in a corner of your flower garden or vegetable garden and encourage it to grow!  Used as a tea, it is a an effective body detoxifier.  As an ointment, it is a useful remedy for a long list of skin conditions.  As a poultice, place on wounds.

We have no idea what the future holds.  Hopefully, it holds nothing but rainbows and sunshine.  However, just in case, I am looking into ways to survive, and even thrive, just in case we have to deal with a major, large scale national crisis.  Want to join me?

Since I finally finished THE BOOK (aka Backyard Farming on an Acre (More or Less)) and turned in the first drafts for the production team to work over, I decided to reintroduce myself to my family. You know – the people who put up with me hiding in the office for the last month, a furiously-typing-nose-in-multiple-books-in-need-of-a-shower woman who’d high-jacked the front bedroom? I figured I owed them.

These guys? I like them a lot. The little ones, I mean, not the dinosaur.

So we went on a week long road trip and took off to see some places we’ve had on our family’s must-visit list for awhile. The first stop, The Creation Museum in Kentucky. With a dinosaur lover or three in the family, we wanted our children to understand the science behind a God-created world. And I wanted to be able to read the educational signs without having to edit.

Here are some tips for visiting the Creation Museum with a family now that I’ve had a chance to check it out for myself.

Pretty, pretty landscaping throughout.

The first thing I noticed when we arrived at the Creation Museum is that the parking lot and drive ways were beautifully landscaped I noticed too, but once I saw the gardens I wasn’t surprised. We also saw that parking lot has a parking guide who not only points out an open parking spot, but serves as a security officer for the parking lot.

I liked that a lot because we had a luggage rack on the back of our van to save space and Sidney didn’t feel like he had to unhook all our suitcases and move them inside while we were touring the museum.  The cars were near enough to the museum entrance you could pack a lunch if you were trying to stay on a budget and just do the picnic-in-the-parking-lot thing.

Lots of kind-friendly detours throughout keep it interesting for all age levels.

I highly recommend the two-day pass when touring the Creation Museum with kids. We were able to space out the main museum walk through the Seven-C’s and the other fun things we wanted to do like hiking through the gardens and watching the planetarium show. It would have been impossible to fit everything we wanted to do into a single day without turning our experience into an over-managed-child-frustrating-mother-crazifying nightmare. Two-Day Passes = A must for families. This way we could let each of our children enjoy something that was of interest to them without rushing them through the experiences.

Amazingly smooth meteorite - one of several different examples in the display.

Right away inside I noticed the cool exhibits tucked away along the walkways and corridors. Look close so you don’t miss the cool meteorite display with samples of actual shooting stars. My kids loved that and I was amazed to see how different the samples were.

The tracks he left in the sediment went more than 10 feet. Very cool.

Or the fossilized horseshoe crab that was buried alive – as evidenced by the long track he left in the mud layer he was buried in. Evidence of a rapid burial by some catastrophic event. It would have been easy to miss if I hadn’t been warned to keep a look out! So here’s your warning – watch for them because they are usually pretty cool.

The finch exhibit - a living look at genetic diversity and a chance to discuss Darwinism and natural selection.

Anyone familiar with Answers in Genesis will be familiar with their Seven C’s of Earth’s ultimate timeline. Creation, Corruption, Catastrophe, Confusion, Christ, Cross, Consummation. We are currently in the time period after the cross, of course, and awaiting the second coming of Christ (the last C). The museum walk through history takes you through the Seven C’s, with much attention to the first four.

Everyone starts with a foundational point of view.

First you are introduced to the basic foundation of the Creation Museums scientific method – the assumption that God’s Word is accurate is the foundation for examining the evidence. The same evidences used by all scientists – who also examine it with a foundational mindset. Which foundation do you start with? Because that of course impacts how you choose to interpret evidences of past events.

One of several possibilities of an original horse kind.

I loved the Creation story video and exhibits. The beautiful displays captivated my children, who were so excited to see their Bible  stories come to life. And the educational signs challenged adults as well – would horses have looked then the way horses look now? Likely not because they had to have contained the genetic information for all the horse kinds that developed through natural selection over the last 7 thousand years.

Thinking, thinking - always thinking...

The Corruption was thought-provoking to say the least. WARNING- There was one room in particular with a series of photos projected against the wall. It was a little scary. The sounds and the images together were depicting the fall of creation, so obviously not a light subject matter to begin with, but for my 3 year old and newly-6 year old the images were overwhelming and we moved quickly to the next room.

With the fall (Corruption) came carnivores, venom, death, disease, war, etc. The images in the room after this were challenging.

The Noah’s ark replica was fascinating to the children, and to my husband. He’s such a handyman around the house I think he was trying to imagine what it would be like to try to build something like that himself! The flood video? Wow!

A to-scale replica - note the dinosaurs going up the ramp.

We went to one of the special programs available that day, Dragons of the Land, Air, and Sea by Buddy Davis. It was a treat to meet him and the kids totally enjoyed the hands-on portion of the workshop, building their own dragon sculptures.

Concentrating on making his dragon just-so.

When given their choice in the bookstore my kids chose a Buddy Davis DVD and I’m not surprised they wanted to see more he had to offer.

The kids enjoyed meeting Buddy Davis and we now own one of his DVDs and a book set!

The second day we went to the planetarium, explored the petting zoo and the gardens in-depth. The gardens will be another post all their own because I have too many photos to share. The planetarium show we went to was the newest one, Worlds of the Cosmos, which described the planets and other celestial bodies. I wasn’t sure if Micah would get much out of it at 3 years old but when we got back to the hotel room that night he was drawing Saturn and the rings on the mirror so something stuck! It was the perfect show because we had been studying the solar system in school a little bit, so everyone except Vivian liked it.

The kids ice-cream sundae w/big dinosaur cookie was the best deal at the concession stands.

We stayed at a Holiday Inn Express in Richwood, Kentucky about 15 minutes south. It was perfect. Close enough that getting there was very easy (no traffic while we were there) and the rates were reasonable. Under $100 per night with Sidney’s Wal-Mart employee discount and the rooms had two queen beds, a pull-out couch, a sink outside the bathroom in the kitchenette area, a fridge, a microwave, a dining table, and a desk area for my technologies. We saved enough on meals out to justify the price of the room vs. camping and the Holiday Inn Express was the one place close by that we found would allow us more than 4 people in a room without a fuss. It definitely worked well for our family and I would recommend it.

Needle felting with wool is a popular trend among crafters and artists. This is a good hobby for those who enjoy textiles, hand work, and designing unique gifts, clothing, and accessories.

My daughter and I are enjoying learning about this interesting art form and would like to share the fun with you.

Learning About Felting

At a fall quilting expo, a representative from Bird Brain Designs was poking away at a bit of wool roving, attaching it to a vest. I had never seen anyone needle felting before, but my college aged daughter knew right away what the woman was doing. She was using a special barbed felting needle to poke the fuzzy roving into the fabric of the vest. By simply poking in and pulling out the needle, the woman quickly created a flower petal. Apparently, the barbs on the needles sort of grab the roving and the fibers of the cloth, and they become “felted” together. It is amazingly fast and simple.

According to Bird Brain Designs, needle felting is becoming very popular, especially with teens and college aged young adults. On their website they say needle felting “is an old needlework technique that is enjoying new interest with updated designs and tools.”

They go on to describe the technique, explaining that 100% wool roving is felted into designs “using special needles with tiny barbs on the tips.” Needle felting supplies such as these can be purchased at some craft stores or online.

With just a few supplies (see the link directly above), you are ready to start creating. Just about anyone can learn to do felting in just an hour or two. Check out this instructional video for an example of tutorials available for free online.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Pretty things like simple flowers are nice designs for beginners. Felted shapes can then be added to scarves, made into jewelry, or used in other ways. One of my first attempts was an Easter egg which I tacked onto my bulletin board for decoration. I started with a plain egg-shaped piece of wool cloth.

Personally, I am amused by making little shaped dolls. They are quick and forgiving (ie. no one will know if I goof) and make people smile. How about starting with some silly zombie dolls?

Craft Some Felted Zombies?

If you are looking for unique gifts, Zombie Felties might be just the ticket.

In the book, Zombie Felties: How to Raise 16 Gruesome Felt Creatures from the Undead, Nicola Tedman and Sarah Skeate have come up with some amusing designs. Teens, especially, will love the ideas in this book. These are also fun for boys to craft, as they are not too cutesy.

Custom Felting Patterns Made by You

If zombies are not your thing, you might like creating your own designs. This can be done by drawing simple shapes, sort of like you find in a coloring book. Transfer the design onto a backing material and use the needles to punch the roving in and color inside the lines. Easy! Some easy shapes to try might include cupcakes, hearts, stars, and letters. How about adding a monogram to that old wool sweater?

I will be sharing some of our creations in the near future. In the meantime, see Wool Roving in Trendy Colors for Needle Felting for some fun ideas.

I love chives. I’ve loved them since I was a little girl. These little onions are a gateway onion for little kids, since they look like grass, not big, bulky onions. My daughter will eat chives, but she will not eat onions – not unless they’re very well disguised, anyway!

Why Grow Chives?

This little onion is so simple to grow, and it’s so tasty to eat! Chives are lovely in salads.  They’re superstars when they’re chopped up in cream cheese and added to a bagel. Chives also add a delicate onion flavor to cooked food like mashed potatoes. If you’re making a creamy soup, cut up chives and place them on the top of the soup to add a decorative, flavorful touch.

Chives are ideal for a child’s garden. They’re easy to grow, fun to snip off with scissors, and they add new flavors to your child’s diet!

Starting Chives

Chives are very easy to grow. If you’re starting chives from seed, start them indoors in March or place them outdoors after the weather warms. Chive plants tend to be fairly inexpensive to buy. Since chives grow and spread through bulbs like onions do, those who have chives are often happy to send a bunch off your way, so check with friends and family before you buy!

Care and Feeding of Chives

Chives aren’t overly picky about soil and moisture conditions. While they enjoy moist, well-drained soil, they can also live in pots and can tolerate some drought if necessary. They’re not really a hot weather plant, though, so pick a location that does not get intense sun. Harvest your chives with a pair of scissors from the kitchen. Snip a few inches off the top each time, and your chives will grow back.

A Perennial Herb for the Garden

Chives are perennials. This means that they return year after year, growing from the roots that lie buried in the ground over the winter. If your winters are mild, the chives may stay green throughout the winter season. Perennial herbs are a good backbone for your herb garden, and they’re cheaper than buying new plants every year.

Chives Have Edible Flowers

Most people think of chives as green onions, but they also create amazing purple flower heads as well. Chives are the cousins of the decorative allium, and they can be attractive border plants for a herb garden. The chive flower is totally edible and delicious in salads. It also adds an attractive puff of color to a dish. When the chives flower, cut them back to a few inches in height and they will begin to grow again, provided that the warm season is long enough.

Growing Chives Indoors

If you’re in a small space or you’d just like to have herbs close by, you can grow herbs in your kitchen. While many vegetables aren’t fond of indoor environments, chives are an exception. Give them enough light and good soil and they will grow indoors as well as outdoors. They’re particularly lovely in the winter. At a time when most other green onions are being imported from far away, you can cut your own little green onions from your kitchen!

Let’s be honest: Vinyl siding often gets a bad rap. You’ve likely heard a few negative things about this versatile cladding material, but do you know what’s fact and what’s fiction? There are going to be pros and cons with any type of material, and vinyl siding is no exception. Let’s cut through the fluff and get down to the truth about this affordable option.

Vinyl siding: Just the facts, please

Vinyl siding is much maligned for a variety of reasons. Here are the most common issues you might have heard about, and the real story behind all of that negative spin.

Image credit: Certainteed.com

Myth: Vinyl siding creates dioxin, and that’s bad for your health.

Truth: Dioxin is a toxic gas created through when certain things are burned. The industrial process used to create vinyl siding does create dioxin. But here’s the truth: The amount of dioxin put into the atmosphere every year by vinyl siding is less than one-half of one percent of the total dioxin released into the atmosphere. That’s a very small amount! The vast majority of dioxin actually comes from natural places — forest fires, volcanoes and burning wood in fireplaces.

Myth: Dioxin or not, synthetic materials are bad for the planet!

Truth: Any material is going to have some impact on the environment around it. The question is how that product will fare over time. Vinyl siding lasts for a very long time, requires minimal maintenance and needs no harsh cleaners to keep it looking good. Because it can last for decades, it prevents the use of contaminants, such as the paint your wood siding might require every few years. Materials that last for a very long time are the ones that will keep the environment in very good shape.

Myth: Old vinyl siding clogs up landfills because it doesn’t get recycled.

Truth: This is one of the most common falsehoods about vinyl siding, and it is definitely false. More than one billion pounds of vinyl siding are melted down and recycled each year. Old vinyl siding can be turned into new plastic products that usually wind up in another home, such as pipes, fencing, garden hoses and vinyl window products. If you’re concerned about where your old vinyl siding might go when you’re done with it, make sure your contractor knows that you want it to be recycled.

Myth: Vinyl siding can turn a house fire into a deadly inferno.

Truth: Any fire is going to burn hot, and this is especially true in a house fire, where there are so many things that can fuel the flames. But vinyl siding doesn’t contribute to making the fire hotter — if anything, it can help slow down fire because it is very resistant to combustion. Much of this myth is about the concern of HCL, or hydrogen chloride, which can be released when vinyl burns. Though HCL is a toxic gas that can hurt you if you inhale it, the concentration of HCL is very slight compared to the concentration of carbon monoxide in a fire. CO is created by almost anything that burns, and it can kill you long before you even smell the smoke.

The truth is out

Vinyl siding is one of the most versatile, maintenance-free exterior cladding products on the market today. From vinyl siding colors that are as rich as any paint to costs that are very affordable, it’s easy to see why so many people are turning to this product. Now that the myths have been cleared up, perhaps you could put vinyl siding on your “to do” list for your next exterior remodel or new construction project.

Generous Ohio Fast-food Restaurant Planting Uses Knock Out Roses Upright Evergreens Petunias and a Topiary - Photo Credit Chuck Eirschele

Free garden ideas can be had when visiting local fast-food restaurants or highway rest stops.  Created to be maintained with little extra care on a low budget, beginners are encouraged to take notes.  Similar plant ideas are especially dependable for a first-time gardener.

Keeping gardens looking good, where high foot and tire traffic is constant, is a challenge no matter how green, or professional, a landscaper’s thumb.  Whether it is a fast food restaurant selling its umpteenth burger or a roadside stop-over kept by a state forest service, the budget and the environment are challenges much the same as gardeners face at home.

Successful gardeners habitually search out planting beds wherever they travel.  Beginner gardeners will find easy ideas at common places; consider carrying a journal to record plantings found. For gardeners unsure of plant names, photos taken with a phone or point-and-shoot camera will help with asking assistance at local garden centers.

Landscaping Lessons from Fast Food Restaurants

Level with Driver's Window Ornamental Grass and Burning Bush Cool the Space - Photo Credit Chuck Eirschele

Budget and time drives the design and plant choices for landscaping around fast food restaurants.  Lining flowers around the curves of fast-food drive-ins have to be some of the toughest environments for plants.  Imagine what the pretty petunia blooms are feeling sitting in direct aim of idling cars, their motors pouring exhaust out the tailpipe.

Plants used are inexpensive and easy to find. Chided for its overuse on the grounds of businesses the Stella de Oro daylily has been maligned over the years. But say what you will, the common daylily has proven its worth, not only surviving but thriving in tough environments. Stella de Oro has a yellow flower on a short plant and is an inexpensive perennial.  New gardeners will find it a worthwhile bright color and repeat bloomer, which will last much of the summer.

Simple Perennial Veronica with Pink Flowers at Wendy's in Ohio - Photo Credit Chuck Eirschele

Lately, a frequently seen plant is the Knock Out® rose.  It was developed in Wisconsin for some of the toughest environments rosarians face; frigid winters and hot humid summers. But the Knock Out® rose has proven itself in tough growing conditions around the United States. This is valuable information for gardeners who want to try a rose bush in their own garden but have been afraid of failing.  Knock Out® rose bushes are found with red, pink or yellow flower colors, in single and double blossoms.

Interstate Highway Rest-stops with Roadside Plants

Colorado Water Conservation Demonstration Steps from Fast-food Restaurant - Photo Credit Chuck Eirschele

Rudbeckias and Gallaridas in Illinois Demonstrate Growth Stages - Photo Credit Chuck Eirschele

Rest-stops, relied upon by travelers to refresh and replenish along interstate highways, are also used by states to brag, that includes about their natural environment.  Along with maps and chamber of commerce public relations styled posters, visitors will frequently see a mixture of native plants and wildflowers on the grounds.

Whether new to the hobby of gardening or new to a state, these locations may be excellent places to get basic first-time ideas on what grows well.  Like the landscapes around family restaurants, there is a limited budget to expend time and money on upkeep.  The long distance between roadside rest-stops makes grounds maintenance, including the gardens, a challenge.

Hot Dry Environments for Gardens

Utah Roadside Rest-stop with Manicured Landscape in the Desert - Photo Credit Chuck Eirschele

No matter the state or region, most gardens at fast food restaurants and other roadside stopovers have some characteristics in common; exposure to full sun, made doubly hot surrounded by concrete or asphalt and car and truck exhaust spewing into the plant’s surroundings and a reliance on less frequent garden care.

Colorado Roadside with Grasses and Annual Plants - Photo Credit Chuck Eirschele

Gardeners are well known for exchanging plant ideas and making friends with neighborhood gardeners, a beneficial habit for those new to the hobby.  Commonly visited public places like shopping malls, fast food restaurants, banks and beyond the city limits; landscaped public parks and roadside stopovers are replete with suggestions, too.