A Nest for All Seasons

Printmaking

2026-05-29T09:34:09.112-05:00

I have officially finished my masters degree, and have been desperately seeking space to slow down and breathe. This summer, I plan to do just that. Read, write, garden again, craft again, breathe. The offer to review Jenny Mason-Gunning’s new printmaking text couldn’t have come at a better time.

This is not just a pretty coffee table book (though it does look great sitting out!). This is a very nice reference book that can be utilized by beginners, but also has techniques and instruction for more advanced crafters.

The information is well laid out, attractively arranged and reads almost chronologically at first, and then is organized by technique. This text is 100% going on my reference shelf and I can’t wait to get my hands a little dirty trying out some new techniques!

Disclaimer: I received this book for review from the publisher in exchange for an honest and independent review. All thoughts are entirely my own.

Fifteen Minutes on an Afternoon

2021-06-01T13:39:00.001-05:00

Stonecrest FOR SALE - Tour the Inside

2020-07-09T10:25:00.000-05:00

Last post, we left off at "The Courtyard".

Here she is at Christmas.

The original builder of the home was before his time and upcycled before upcycle was a term.

The marble floors in The Courtyard, the smaller marbles tiles on the balconies, entryway and front porch, the wainscotting crafted from doors cut in half, the bank teller windows set into the walls high above The Courtyard -- they were all rescued materials from Western National Bank in York, PA and a grand old hotel that was demolished.

Christmastime lets the Courtyard shine, with the 2 story tree and massive open space for hosting dinners with ALL the relatives. Of course, that is not the only good use for a large open space in the middle of your home. When we first moved in (pre-chandelier), we took a massive slinky and two holders stood on either balcony and wound it around double dutch style. The kids jumped rope like it was a totally normal thing to do.

This courtyard also makes the perfect roller skating rink, wiggleboard course, cuddle spot in front of the wood burning fireplace and even makes a special event yoga studio when the need arises.

...but Christmas is the best.

Back to the House:

Here is what you see when you enter:

We have dressers for hats and gloves and garden tools to the left and right and wooden crates for shoes. This seating area is the "blast off" for the day spot when everyone is starting their day and the "debriefing" spot when everyone gets home from school. It is also the best hiding spot as a Nerf sniper when one hides on the white couch and leans over to catch someone in the courtyard unaware.

Marble floors and "wainscotting" from cut down doors were rescued from the Western National Bank and an old hotel tear down in York PA. Note the bank teller windows to the kitchen and office. Two more bank teller windows open from the bathrooms on the third level and look down into the courtyard. We suspect all the metal work is upcycled as well, but do not know the origin. The stonework is all from stones found in the creek directly on the property.

There are basically two wings off the courtyard.
The first leads to our Art Room (used to be a billiards room) and then into the kitchen and guest room.

The kitchen features ceramic "plank" flooring, true wood beamed ceiling and double brick arches - one over the stove and the other across from it that houses a wood burning fireplace. (The other side of this fireplace is in the guest bedroom.)

The second wing leads through my office to a TV room.
In the past, this has been used as a large bedroom suite:

We use it as a piano/TV room:

Wood plank flooring is another upcycled feature of the home and the "old door"
wainscotting and double doors rescued from destruction continue throughout the home.

Note the multi-paned double doors that open into this second office below.
The wood burning fireplace was handcrafted by the original owners of the home.

Once again, doors were upcycled and cut down to create these built ins!

Old bank teller windows open into the courtyard.

...and this cozy little nook which 9 out of 10 times is my morning coffee spot.
It is cozy as is, but the chicken coop is situated right outside that window
and the morning clucking is the main draw.

Connected to the office is a large bathroom with built-ins in the closet,
an additional suit closet, shower and double sink.

This bathroom is my favorite with its English wallpaper and black toilet :)

A little sink and shelving unit is outside the office:

Two large closets are upstairs:

...and the master bedroom is also on the third level.

The master bedroom is up on the third level and has double doors looking out into the courtyard. Two additional sets of double doors lead out onto small balconies that overlook the front porch outside. From the master bathroom, a bank teller window opens up to peek into the courtyard and another looks out over the back stairwell. Since the home is so large, there is a buzzer in the wall that mom can press to call the kids to get their laundry. There is another buzzer in the kitchen to call the kids to dinner!

The view from the master:

The master bathroom has built in closet/drawers.

The princess suite is also on the third level and boasts its own fun bathroom complete with pink shower.

...and built-ins.

So there was a billiards room?
...and what is with the thousands of daffodils?
...and why was the place empty for years and years?

The History of Stonecrest post is coming soon!

Want to see the listing?
CLICK HERE

Want to see more of Stonecrest Grounds?

CLICK HERE

Stonecrest Manor is FOR SALE

2020-07-08T15:46:00.000-05:00

This is our home...for 6 more weeks.

Then it could be Your Home.

Forgive me, but I am going to brag on this house a bit and tell you a bit of its stories.

First, a Tour.

Shall we start in Spring?

This is the creek. It starts deep in the woods in a hidden spring and travels down through Stonecrest property, under a custom crafted stone bridge (and your future driveway) and then here as it meanders down through the rhododendrons that burst into purple each spring.

You'll pass over the bridge as you come up to the driveway and if you look off to the left you will see "Tricky Trail" - the little trail that follows the creek to its origin. Daffodil Hill is back there too, but we will get to that later. For now, keep going. You are almost to the terraced hills and your first view of the house.

If you cross the creek at exactly the right time in the morning (i.e. after putting the kids on the bus in the fall), the sun will stream through the trees like magic. If you are taking an evening walk, you might see the lights pop on as dusk settles in.

Look to your left and the woods are pure, empty wildness.

There is a herd of deer that live here and (knock on wood) never hit up my gardens.

They tend to be satisfied with the orchard behind the house.

(Yes, there is an orchard behind the house, and a CSA down the street, and a farm store about a mile away where you can buy produce

if you choose NOT to do a CSA and another mile or so gets you to Perrydell where everyone around here buys their gallons.)

Did I mention that the BEST THING about the driveway is when it does this:

I have bucketloads of the same spot - the same light from Heaven:

A bit of magic every morning.

...and if you have a foggy day, you will get magic front the front porch too:

#nofilter

...and on a clear day:

If you walk over to that firepit and look over the edge, you'll see three gardens.

The plot to the left holds perennial edibles, trees for cuttings and usually a batch of potatoes.

...and often sunsets that fall over the neighbor's homes just like that.

I call it the potager because it is a mix of flowers and fruits and the very best time of year is early summer when the poppies are in bloom and a storm has rolled through. You will probably have watched said storm from the rocking chairs on your front porch or perhaps from your bedroom balconies.

Your choice.

Look to the left and you will see my pride and joy. The Parterre.

This was a work in progress for three years and it looks better today than this picture from 3 weeks ago.

There are hundreds of flowers in this garden - all for cutting.

You will literally pick a bouquet a day from March to November.

If you look up from the potager towards the house, you will see a stone wall and a wild garden above.

Those are the wildflowers and they grow in a battle for dominance. The bees go nuts.

Ready for the house?

She is built completely of stone, legend being that the original owners hauled ever last bit of it from that creek you passed over on your way up the driveway. Those are iris there to the left that bloom a deep aubergine each spring and the flags are hung from those bedroom balconies that you might have your morning tea from on crisp fall days. Welcome.

The double doors open straight into what we call "The Courtyard", which once held two-story jump rope sessions.
CLICK HERE to see the Interiors of Stonecrest

CLICK HERE to see the listing.

Before Vacation

2020-06-01T13:44:00.000-05:00

Before vacation, the garden has been prepped and pruned and watered within an inch of its life.

The beans are flowering and starting to produce.

The hollyhocks are budded and blooming.

Babies are growing and thoroughly started off on a good root system.

(Will they get enough rainfall??)

A few pumpkins have started swelling under masses of vines...

...and Gladiators start ginormasizing...

The world is green and promising today...

Good luck plants! See you in a few!

The RING

2019-08-16T13:12:00.000-05:00

There is one garden that I have not shared - ever.

The first year we moved in, I fought back weeds in the formal beds by the front door.

Year 2 was the Allium Bed and the Grasses Bed

Year 3 was focused on building a true Potager out of a plot of grass.

Year 4 I tore up another patch of grass for a formal flower garden.

To give you an idea of where things are, the Grasses Bed is to the left, the Formal beds straight ahead by the house

and the RING is in between the curved stone wall and bright red shrubs.

When you look out from our front door, across the driveway, you see the RING down below the firepit in front of the bushes.

Sadly, two of those bushes cracked and fell during an icestorm, so they were hauled away into the woods

and all the sudden, this neglected garden could be seen. ...and it was bad.

First step was to have these guys eat up the weeds and "fertilize":

Then, I cardboarded and mulched the entire garden with straw.

Next, I did what I always do with sad plots and planted pumpkins.

They helped (a bit) to cover up the ugly mess of cardboard and compost and soil for the summer.

Of course, that summer when I went to harvest one of the pumpkins, it happened to be on top of a hornet's nest.

It wasn't a great day for me. :/

After years of neglect and years of "prepping" the space, I finally dove into serious planting.

A gift of wildflower seed for Mother's Day along with a few plants of yarrow and Bergamot and...

It is starting to take shape.

I was shocked that the wildflowers grew so well, but they have taken off like good weeds do and my job this summer has simply been to walk through pulling out the "bad" weeds like bindweed, thistle and poison ivy when they sneak in. My hope is that the wildflowers will drop copious amounts of seed and over the years the "good guys" will beat out the "bad guys".

Poppies and Zinnia are stand outs, but other little flowers have added to the "lightness" of the bed.

...and yes, you probably spotted a few pumpkins...bad habits die hard.

Next year, I hope to add a few more tough cookies like this purple Queen Anne's Lace:

Queen Anne's Lace 'Dara'

The eventual goal?

Look out the front door, past the driveway and the firepit and see

cheery Sunflowers and clumps of waving Bergamot popping over the edge.

Walk over and peer over the edge into a sea of wildflowers in every color of the rainbow.

Pluck a few zinnias, dry some yarrow and watch the butterflies and the bees do their dance.

...and if you are curious...

RING reflects the curved shape of the bed, but also:

Rescue the Indigent Neglected Garden

Spring into Summer at Mill Creek Falls

2019-07-08T12:01:00.002-05:00

We bought our camp in November of last year. The entire winter was spent up to our elbows in paint, tile and old mattresses. There were days when it seemed like we wouldn't finish - like the cold would never end. Then came spring...

Hammock Circle at Mill Creek Falls Retreat Center in Airville, Pennsylvania Campground

We found hammocks for the hammock circle and hung new signs from Black Squirrel...

Hammock Circle at Mill Creek Falls Retreat Center in Airville, Pennsylvania Campground

Explored every known trail and made a few more of our own...

Received official permission from the township to host weddings, and welcomed our first bride and groom!

Wedding Venue at Mill Creek Falls Retreat Center in Airville, Pennsylvania Campground

The Commons Wedding Venue at Mill Creek Falls Retreat Center in Airville, Pennsylvania Campground

Cleared the Creek Trail, Cleaned out the Nature Center and found ALL the Hosta...

(nibbled by many, many, many deer)

Photographed our smallest wedding venue down on The Creek Trail...

Creekside Wedding Venue at Mill Creek Falls Retreat Center in Airville, Pennsylvania Campground

...and continued to rotate our family around to various cabins night after night to see what needs improving.

Last week was The Lodge and she gained shiny new dishes, shower heads, bathmats, and more.

The Lodge Wedding Venue at Mill Creek Falls Retreat Center in Airville, Pennsylvania Campground

Hope you can come and Join Us!

Mill Creek Falls Retreat Center

So We Bought a Camp

2019-02-06T09:31:00.000-06:00

A family camp has long been on our list of someday, somehow, someplace and we had been searching for years when the right one came along.

Last year, a Presbyterian church camp came on the market and we decided that this might be the one.

Mill Creek Falls Retreat Center - Campground Wedding Event Venue in York County, PA

We visited the camp several times and explored the main campground, but the weather made it impossible to traverse all of the trails and see the entire 128 acres. We loved the camp, but couldn't see it all. We didn't want to miss this chance though.

We made our first offer without hiking the entire property.

Mill Creek Falls Retreat Center - Campground Wedding Event Venue in York County, PA

The church countered and we decided to visit the camp yet again to determine whether we could justify the counter offer.

This time we took the trails. ALL the trails.

The River Trail was the deal maker for us, leading from the fields down through the woods, along Mill Creek and into a gorge that doesn't seem like it should exist in Pennsylvania. Carpeted with Mountain Laurel from the creek all the way up to the peak, the hills are going to be insanely beautiful in Spring.

Mountain Laurel on The River Trail at Mill Creek Falls Retreat Center in York County PA

The hostas, the ferns, the mosses -- all add up to a magical trail down to the falls.

There is even this little patch of ferns and moss that is so ridiculously cute that I want to set up a fairy village.

Priorities though -- it will have to be a summer project.

Moving on...

The falls start as the hills rise and continue down to the end of the trail where camp property meets public Pennsylvania property.

Continue onto public land and you are directly on the banks of the Susquehanna. We were sold. We countered.

Camp Cat that has adopted us.

The church made the difficult decision to sell a property that has meant a lot to many people through many years. The deal was done.

The Lodge at Mill Creek Falls Retreat Center - Campground Wedding Event Venue in York County, PA

9 weeks ago, the papers were signed and we dove into renovations.

We have already began renting out the finished buildings and plan to have the entire camp open in early spring.

The A-Frame Cabin at Mill Creek Falls Retreat Center - Campground Wedding Event Venue in York County, PA

There is a lot of work to be done to get the camp up and running again as a wedding venue and retreat center, but the heart and soul of the camp is of the people that built this place. From a patch of woods and farmland, the people of the church created a restful retreat for people to escape the city and get away from it all. There are names of campers carved into trees, crosses made by hand, campfires and trails and cabins all built by church members. There is a history here that we want to embrace and certainly not erase. It is a difficult and careful line we are trying to walk to update the camp, give fresh finishes and modern conveniences to the cabins -- all while maintaining the heart and spirit of the campers who love this place and gave it purpose.

A Bench in the Woods Honoring a Camper

As the new caretakers of the property, we want to only add to the legacy that the Presbyterian church began.
We want many people to visit and be physically challenged, mentally engaged, emotionally recharged and spiritually renewed.

We want to celebrate as people are united in marriage here. We want to support missionaries and pastors by hosting retreats and conferences for them. We want families to reconnect here. We want kids to play in the creek and learn to fish in the river. We want adults to escape reality and enjoy the peace here. We want to serve this region in so many ways and we only hope that we can do it justice.

The camp website is MillCreekFallsRetreat.com and our Instagram is Mill Creek Falls Retreat.

We hope that you will look us up, follow along and VISIT CAMP! Meet you in the Woods!

Fifteen Minutes on a Friday Afternoon

2018-10-05T04:30:00.000-05:00

A few old plastic pumpkins, some thrifted velvet pajamas, real pumpkin stalks all dried up and some hot glue on a Friday afternoon. That's the trick, you know!? REAL pumpkin stalks (or squash stalks) will always win against even those cheap Target Dollar Spot versions. In fact, if you want to buy them and then rip off the tops and replace them with the real things, more power to you!

Just gently work the stalks off before you go to roast your butternut squash or Jarrahdale blue, then let the stalks sit out for a day or two. Then wrap up some old plastic pumpkins from the bottom of the bin with velvet, secure them at a point on the top and hot glue the stalk on. Larger stalks will hide a multitude of hot glue mistakes.

A set of those overpriced velveteen pumpkins I have been coveting are now mine for a few dollars and fifteen minutes.

Super Simple Fall Vase Wraps

2018-10-03T15:22:00.000-05:00

Do you have broadleaf evergreen leaves falling from your trees along with the brown, shriveled deciduous leaves? Is your sweet southern magnolia just fading a bit to soon? Gather those leaves for fall arrangements because they will make a fantastic vase wrap!

Simply insert a container (glass is preferable) that is slightly smaller than your vase and fill the smaller container with water.

Wedge leaves vertically between the two containers for a lush look that covers up bare stems in your vase!

Cover the bottom with a ribbon or burlap or you can simply fold the magnolia leaves under the interior container for a clean finish!

Bacopa

2018-10-01T15:23:00.000-05:00

Raise your hand if you love Bacopa!

Raise your hand if Bacopa always dies on you because you cannot possibly give it as much water as it wants!

Fall 2018 Reading List

2018-10-01T12:16:00.000-05:00

Fall is the best season. No one can argue that fact this time of year. Time to cuddle up with coffee, a cat and a stack of books.

Without a doubt, Cabana Anthology has got to win most beautiful book of 2018. It is an absolutely gorgeous compilation of Cabana Magazine's best work. Showcasing everything from rural huts to cosmopolitan dwellings, Cabana explores the intimacy creative people share with buildings and their surroundings.

I adore interiors based around plant combinations:

Could I live her? Yes. Emphatically. Minimalism be gone from my life.

The production values are just astonishing. Lovely paper stock that feels rich in your hands, interior stamping and lamination and a lush fabric cover make this an excellent textural fall experience and the perfect coffee table book year round to welcome guests.

Speaking of welcoming guests, I picked up Wabi Sabi Welcome by Artisan at the library this week based solely upon the beautiful fabric cover and exposed binding. There really is something to be said for excellent, creative book making, don't you think?

While the term Wabi Sabi sounds a bit sing-songy and trite, the definition is actually quite engaging. In Japanese, "Wabi means something like simplicity, humility and and living in tune with nature; it describes someone who is content with little and makes the most of whatever he or she has, always moving toward having less. Sabi, on the other hand, refers to what happens with the passage of time; it's about transience and the beauty and authenticity of age." (Page 18 - Julie Pointer Adams) Together, those two concepts create a way of being that is both present in simplicity and nature, but also honoring time. Esteeming age and the past with an understanding of how transient we are our things are. It is a lovely concept to roll around with and offers a more studied and complex approach to the minimalist lifestyle.

Next on my list is a reference book I asked for as a birthday gift this year. First, before introducing the book, I must introduce you to Montague. He hates the name Monty, but with a name like "Monty Don", it stuck.

I first discovered Monty when Netflix put up a few episodes of a show called Big Dreams, Small Spaces. Of course, they only put up like 6 episodes, so once I was hooked, there was no place else to go for Monty Don!! GRRrrrrr. So, onto books I went. I have ordered several, but The Complete Gardener is a fantastic reference and is great for beginning gardeners. Also, dear Netflix, MORE MONTY PLEASE!

Another great read this month was Nora Murphy's Country House Style:

Nora Murphy's style is a formal, yet relaxed country living style. If Joanna Gaines, Ina Garten and Lauren Liess

were to work together on a space, I would imagine it would look similar to Nora Murphy's rooms.

The book encompasses several different styles, touring different homes,

from a country house to an English cottage country look to vintage farmhouse and historical country.

If you are a fan of an edited, nature based country style, you will absolute find a kindred soul in the page of this book.

Last of the books is a serendipitous find for a dollar at a local book sale.

This is my leave-open book, meaning it sits in the art room and every few days, I flip the page to the next piece of art and quote from Bob Timberlake. There is a little bit of Bob Ross and a lot of Tasha Tudor in the musings - a wonderful way to start the day and a nice meditation throughout.

"Some beauty is to be found in every person, every object, and every scene. Even man's discarded trash, rusting, worn out, and seemingly good for nothing, can be seen as beautiful if looked upon in the right way. Bluets, tiny flowers scattered here and there-brighten even the loneliest corners of the land".

The book starts in Summer, then proceeds through the seasons; Fall, Winter and Spring.

There are several versions of The World of Bob Timberlake available on Amazon starting at around $7. I am not sure whether the version I found is the "collectible" version or the plain old hardback, but it is a large book, published by Oxmoor House and Southern Living.

I have recently been attending the Garden Lecture Series at Ladew Gardens, and am sad to miss an upcoming lecture on Bunny Mellon. Now, if I am being honest, I often confuse Bunny Williams with Bunny Mellon, as they are both fantastic garden designers. However, The Gardens of Bunny Mellon by Linda Jane Holden and Photographs by Roger Foley was a great read that really solidified Mellon's historic impact in American Garden Design for me.

The Kennedy Garden at the White House, JFK's grave site in Arlington, the Mellon Family Gardens in New York, Cape Cod, Nantucket and Antiqua, along with two beautiful gardens in France are highlighted. This is the first book to focus on all of the private and public gardens that Mellon designed. I must say that my hands down favorite was Oak Spring in Virginia. There is a relaxed, yet formal vibe in this garden that is magical, enchanting and inviting. Page after page is devoted to Oak Spring and each page has layers of inspiring design. Take this:

No, that is not the main entry. Just the greenhouse. Just the greenhouse. Gorgeous Trompe l'oiel murals by artist Fernand Renard cover the entire working space, with cabinets opening to reveal gardening tools and supplies. What is most inspiring to me, however, is Mellon's personal history. Although she had no formal training, she amassed a vast horticulture library and read voraciously. Self-educated, she worked hard and prolifically to become an icon.

Fun fact: She enjoyed a warm friendship with courtier Hubert de Givenchy, who designed much of her wardrobe, from her gowns to her gardening hats and smocks! He shared her love of garden, and together they designed the formal and kitchen gardens at his Chateau du Jonchet in the French countryside. They also oversaw the restoration of the Potager du Roi at Versailles.

If you are interested in the Ladew Lecture Series, I believe there are still available slots!

Now, last but not least, the Urine Therapy. Did you read down to the bottom just to find out whether I had been imbibing or not? Well, fear not, I have not. However, there is a fantastic podcast about urine therapy that you absolutely must listen to. (Beware: There is some language and some disgusting descriptions!) . OH NO! Here is to a Happy Fall Season to You! Happy Reading and Listening!

New Plants in 2018

2018-08-28T06:37:00.000-05:00

I try to grow new plants each year to learn and experiment and to see the newest flowers and taste the newest flavors available.
Some of the plants I grow are very old, (HEIRLOOMS!) just new to me. Here is the lineup from 2018:

Shall we start with tomatoes?? I always try to grow at least a few new tomatoes and this year PanAm Seed sent a trial plant of Tomato MidnightSnack. It is a very beautiful tomato with an overlay of glossy black-purple like a cap on top of a deep red. The taste is mild, not strong or particularly sweet and the size is perfect for snacking or cutting in halves for salads.

I also grew a couple newer varieties of yellow cherry tomatoes this year, but I won't mention them because they were absolutely put to shame by the classic Sungold which outproduced every other tomato in the garden.

A fun new plant from seed this year was Thai Roselle from Baker Creek Seeds. This is a heirloom, part of the hibiscus family and blooms with a cream blossom, then producing red calyces that can be used to make jams, teas, etc. My plants are in pots and have not produced blooms yet, but I plan to overwinter them under glass and see if they will produce next spring/summer. I also plan to try them out in the vegetable garden next year for more vigorous growth. The Penn State Master Gardener's Exhibition Garden had Roselle blooming this year in early August, so I know it can be done here!

I trialed a few plants from Darwin Perennials this year and gave them a very tough trial indeed. They were placed in the Grasses Bed where poison ivy has been known to pop up, yellow jackets sometimes nest and only the fittest survive. I was pleased that all of the trial plants did well this year and I look forward to adding in more.

The first is Armeria Dreameria Sweet Dreams - a Sea Pink or Sea Thrift - that is supposed to bloom frost-to-frost and maintains a tidy habit. I planted out three in a cluster and all have survived well, even with ivy trying to take over:

This summer has been harsh with way too much rain, then super hot stretches. I have high hopes for these troopers to bloom like crazy next year. One trial plant that DID bloom all season in the Grasses Bed were these Salvia Rose Marvel.

They were planted near amsonias and I hope they will play off of each other as the plants mature:

You must ignore all of the pumpkin and squash vines throughout these photos of the Grasses Bed. I use them to cover ground while the perennials in this bed are filling out. In a few years, I hope all of the grasses, perennials and shrubs fill out enough to make the soil invisible.

In the photo below, you will see the large established ornamental grasses, a young Karl Foerster to the left, a heather in the foreground and smack in the middle is a new miscanthus from PanAm Seed. It is small now, but 'Bandwidth' is supposed to grow to 30-36" with a width around 30-36" as well. The striping on the bands will contrast nicely with the new summer growth of the heathers in the beds and bring some light to this shadier corner of the bed. All three trial plants established quickly and have met the harsh summer with aplomb.

A larger view:

To see how VERY FAR this Grasses Bed has come - visit these previous posts on its rehabilitation:

Year 3

An Update

Back in the vegetable garden, I tried the aptly named "Popcorn Plant" (Cassia) this year which has taken off and does indeed smell like burnt popcorn:

I grew ONE solitary cucumber plant this year - a pickling cucumber - from the nursery down the street and we get 2-3 almost every day. We usually grow the larger cukes, but these smaller ones have been great! I have put several new varieties of cucumber on my wishlist for next year as the kids have taken to them:

New to us this year is the Habanero Pepper Primero Red as well as the Sweet Pepper Snackabelle Red. Snackabelle is adorable and Primero is HOT (but only 1/3 the heat of the traditional Habanero).

They turn red when ripe and are mildly spicy -- similar to a jalapeno.

That is all the newbies for now, but I am already planning out seed lists for 2019!

Fifteen Minutes on a Friday

2018-08-24T07:58:00.003-05:00

Now that school is back is session, sessions of quiet have snuck back into my life. Stretches of time where there is a pervading stillness I have almost forgotten how to manage. No questions, no demands, no crashes, no accidents, just time. Time to sit at my desk again, time to string together a line of thoughts, time to quietly focus on making something or zoning out or simply just being a human again.

Last year, I took a watercolors class for a few weeks and found that I really enjoy the calm application of paint onto paper. I enjoy the way watercolours can go from a muted, translucent wash to a highly pigmented line based upon how much paint or water you utilize. I had only ever used cheap kid's craft watercolours, so when I was introduced to the "Real Thing", it was quite a revolution.

I learned that watercolor paints work best when dabbed onto a palette and allowed to dry out into little nubbins of paint. After dried, you can then use varying amounts of water to dip into the paint, blend colors and apply onto paper.

I also learned that paper makes a difference. My teacher told us to splurge on paper above all else because it simply will not "take" the paint if it is cheap and wobbly. I bought some nicer paper, but in a very small size to practice. This practicing turned into 5 minutes - 10 minutes - 15 minutes -- here and there -- in the moments of quiet. I didn't paint all summer long. Now that school is back into session, I took a few minutes on this Friday and rediscovered this small joy.

Know that I know I am just an amateur.

However, there is something pleasing about the stacking up of little art pieces.

Maybe it is just the reminder of all the quiet little moments of peace.

Each little painting is the physical representation of good music, good coffee, good paint and good quiet.

For those interested, I used THIS PAPER, THESE PAINTS and a cheap set of brushes.

For the Love of Asparagus in a Rainstorm

2018-08-22T10:17:00.000-05:00

Typically, we think of asparagus in spring time.

Crisp, flavorful spears. Signs of New Life in the Garden.

The plants themselves though are quite magnificent in the garden all year round.

Full of movement and frills, waving in the wind and dancing in and out of summer fruits --

holding onto raindrops like tiny little beads of light:

Started from seed in tiny little pots...transferred to hay bales in pockets of soil....

Every year, the grow to a toddler's height, waving and dancing and catching those rain drops.

For the love of asparagus in a rainstorm is a reason alone to garden.

Garden Experiments

2018-08-19T10:22:00.001-05:00

I spend a lot of time, effort and a small amount of money every year on experiments in the garden. Nothing elaborate, but I try things. Things that shouldn't really work out. I put plants where they shouldn't grow, try things in pots that are supposed to be in the ground and seed things at the wrong time of the season. Just to try. Here are the successes for 2018:

Coleus. A hundred times over. Last year I bought 1 lime green (pictured above in far back), 1 red (pictured above) and a burnt orange coleus. This spring, I started snapping off pieces and shoving them into pots. No scissors or clean secateurs to take the cuttings, no dibble to poke a hole into the soil, no extra care. Just snap off with my hand a pencil sized stem, strip the bottom 2/3 of leaves and stick directly into potting soil or even into plain garden soil. They have thrived and I have pot after pot of coleus for an initial cost of $5 each. (Total of $15) This particular red coleus has the most amazing blue/purple flowers as well (see above), so a win-win of foliage AND flowers:

Another success were the cheap, cheap clearance plants at Lowes. mostly 50 cents or $1, these clearance annuals have given a punch of color and almost all were perfectly healthy and revived nicely. This little pot holds about $4 worth of clearance plants planted a week ago and will be moved indoors to overwinter. The salvia has already recovered completely, the scotch moss is greening up nicely and the Wave petunias are budding up again to bloom.

The almost dead $1 Aloe from Lowes has revived nicely as well:

$3 tins of dying marigolds, lavender and lemongrass:

The lavenders that survived (2 of them) were planted out into the garden and are doing well.

The lemongrass is going strong and the marigolds are blooming again thanks to worm casting and water.

Grabbed a hanging basket that was clearanced out and drying out in the summer heat to try on this tall planter. Styrofoam in the bottom, plopped the plant on top and done! I just need to cut the hanging basket tops off!

I experimented with a new potting mix this year called PittMoss. It is made out of paper products before they head to the landfill and is supposed to offer roots the moisture and porosity they need to thrive. The company offered to send me a bag to try and I tried it out in a few different planters.

Below is several pots of various potting soil mixes as controls and the round pot is Pittmoss. I took cuttings of blackberries, mint and coleus in one control pot and seed in the others. Seeds and cuttings went into the Pittmoss pot. I took care of all of the pots as a group. The mint and coleus thrived in Pittmoss while the blackberry cuttings only survived in traditional potting soil. Definitely interesting! Not pictured in a Pittmoss planting of Thai Roselle which grew well from seed inboth Pittmoss and traditional potting soil. I love the idea of using waste paper for potting soil, so I will definitely be trying more PittMoss in the future - such a cool product!

I experimented with many seeds and had some success and some failure.

Of course the orange zinnia seeds that came free with an order were tossed away into the asparagus bed:

They are starting to bloom and are thriving even though I honestly just threw them here to get rid of them.

(I hate the garishness of orange in summer gardens!)

That asparagus from seed is another hard fought victory!

Over several years, I have grown them from seed and let them establish in the vegetable garden.

Next year, we start the harvest!

The asparagus bed is right inside of this new bed of corn and squash.

This bed was an experiment of hay bales, loads of leaves last fall, a little soil and seeds.

Glass corn and Violina di Rugosa Squash (like Butternut) have both thrived.

I also planted a few beans and dahlias in this bed that have grown, but they have not thrived.

Some Combinations:

Sedum and Soapwort were a surprise combination that I like quite well.

Spring, summer and now going into fall, they look great on this rock wall!

Also happy together?

Pumpkins and figs!

Who knew?~!

Asparagus Fern and Coleus Cuttings:

Roselle (from Baker Creek Seed) and Love in a Puff (from Floret) play very nicely together:

Now for the failures:

Growing sunflowers over the lip of the firepit was a good idea.

Not protecting the seed from birds was a bad one.

I ended up with 2 sunflower plants from 100 seeds.

Using hay bales with ONLY leaf mold inside worked OK for various squash and gladiolus.

It was an absolute failure for anything else that I tried to seed.

Beans and radish grew a little, potatoes grew, but did not produce many spuds and beets wouldn't even try to grow. Next time, I will kill the grass in the same manner (haybales and leaves), but pile on compost and worm castings or raised bed soil from the nursery on top.

Remember that corn and squash bed success?

That was built the exact same way as the failure bed, but had 2 bags of raised bed soil poured on top of the leaf mold.

Another failure? Watching out for yellowjackets in ALL the haybales I used. I killed off a colony early in the season in this vegetable garden, but neglected to keep an eye out on the bales where I grew that sad looking crop of sunflowers. I got stung :/

For the future, I have learned:

WATCH OUT FOR YELLOW JACKETS

Leaf mold needs soil on top, but is an effective grass killer

Sungold is still the best cherry tomato on the market

Clearance perennials at Lowes are WORTH IT

Buy pretty coleus whenever possible

Annual flower seeds must be started indoors

Love-in-a-Mist and Hollyhock are the exception

Planting little pumpkins for the bunnies keeps them off the bigger ones

Birds love sunflower seeds and will find them even under soil

Next year I want to experiment with:

Building hedging where the haybales are now -- germander? lavender? boxwood?

Growing annual flowers from seed - starting indoors!

Planting hundreds of saved sunflower seeds along the firepit and protecting them!

A Summer Garden Update

2018-08-16T17:57:00.000-05:00

A lack of garden updates in summer is not for a lack of content. Rather, there is so much to do that writing about it all is sacrificed. While winter is for planning and spring is for planting, the summer is for the real work. The weeding, the watering, the battling of yellow jackets, ivy and slugs fill the hot and sunny hours. Certain plants wither and fade in the heat (RIP peas), while others pull their weight week after week. Colorful annuals in pots are situated front and center by the front door - these plug and play combos from PanAmerican Seed have been showing off all summer with no signs of stopping. They come paired for color, height and bloom time and I would buy them for next year in a heartbeat. They make the front door look pulled together even when brooms and shovels start piling up behind them.

I've added cheap cuttings of coleus and purple clover to round out the plantings.

Down to the potager:

This is year 3 for the main fenced potager, year 2 for the hugelculture beds directly outside the fence (where the corn and dahlias are) and year 1 for the new curved bed. The new bed was outlined with straw bales and all of our fall leaves from last year were piled on top of the existing sod. No cardboard, no newspaper, no soil - just leaves. The experiment planting directly into crushed leaves thus far has been both good and not-so-good. The good news is that the only weeds are grass seed weeds and they are very easy to pull. Potatoes are growing in this bed, but they aren't producing as much as their counterparts in actual soil. Mini-pumpkins also grew very well in the immature leaf mold and are my "feeder" crop for the groundhog and bunnies.

My theory was that if I put cheap pumpkins out in the unfenced garden the critters would nibble until full and forget about climbing into the fenced portion where the expensive vegetable heirlooms and dahlias are. Thus far, cross my fingers, it has worked. Inside the fenced potager, the built up soil is starting to produce beautiful, large pumpkins, plenty of cherry tomatoes and masses of flowers getting ready to burst into bloom.

Pumpkins, Love-in-a-Mist and Thai long beans happily coexist on these old crib railings:

Glass Corn, various pumpkins and dahlias all doing very well in 2 year old hugelculture piles:

Another experiment is around the firepit area:

See that sunflower poking her head up? I planted about 100, but only 3-4 plants actually made it. Birds ate the seeds and I am guessing it is the groundhog and/or birds nibbling all the leaves. Next year, I plan to plant the same Russian giant sunflowers again around the edge of the firepit and protect them a bit better against the wildlife. I also plan to protect myself a bit better next year as the yellow jacket stings from this bed have just about done me in. I am more than ready for fall gardening season to begin. Bring on the mums! Bring on the harvest! Bring on the killing frosts!! I've had it with the poison ivy and yellow jackets!

A Spring Tour

2018-05-06T14:23:00.000-05:00

The garden has finally started to emerge and bloom after a long, cool spring.

The most amazing blooms this early are these stunning double tulips.

These in particular were provided by Longfield Gardens last fall to celebrate the NGB's Year of the Tulip!

In the rest of the garden, new growth is showing up from every corner. Clematis have started reaching up repurposed ladders:

The lone ajuga (out of five!) that survived is thriving, spreading and blooming:

Wouldn't that look nice all over the stone walls?

Peonies are starting to bud...

In the Allium Bed, sedums are doing their job of bulking up the border's edge and supporting floppier plants.

Also, note the very eager first alliums are just starting to bud as well!

Doing her job again, sedum is battling it out with some soapwort in the Grasses Bed. [below]

Both plants are workhorses in the garden. Common, yet agile, they are useful to "cover ground", fill in bare spots and add structure to the more whimsical plants in the garden. I never thought I would love sedum, but she has earned a spot in my heart through many years of easy growing, easy propagation and a lack of thuggish behavior.

These two are holding court in The Grasses Bed along with some freshly emerging Amsonia Hubrictii:

This was my first winter caring for Amsonia and I though I had kilt it all. No sign of life all early spring and so I eventually got close and started digging around even though I probably shouldn't have. Every single last Amsonia had tiny little stalks emerging underground (like peonies almost) and now they are happily taking off.

More tulips sprinkled in here from a winter clearance, but they aren't as impressive as the doubles:

Also not as impressive as the Longfield Gardens doubles, these tulips are cheerful nonetheless:

'Mirandas'

However. All of these red double tulips were in 5 cent bags late in January at Walmart this year. 5 CENTS.

Along with many bags of daffodils and hyacinth, I swooped them ALL up and paid about 75 cents for many, many flowers.

The experiment of throwing bulbs into the ground LONG after I was supposed to worked out well!

This butter yellow primrose is perfection in the light of early spring.

I want many many more of them as I try to pretend I am living in Scotland:

Down to the Potager, the 'Tahiti' daffodils are adding a bit o' cheer:

There aren't a ton of edibles yet, but we have baby lettuce in a bucket:

A few token peas reaching hopefully for some homemade "trellising":

Onions are coming up by the dozen:

As are potatoes! These are planted in a new bed composed of shredded leaves and grass clippings last fall and held together by haybales. Another experiment that I hope works out the way I envision! So far, so good on potatoes and onions at least!

[The soil on top is for seed starting...we will see how THAT goes in this leaf bed!]

Slow to get started compared, but trotting along now at a good pace, the garden is on it's way to bloomtown!

Here is a chorus of tulips to see this post out!

As if to Hide From View

2018-04-22T11:13:00.000-05:00


Down in a green and shady bed

A modest violet grew;

Its stalk was bent, it hung its head,

As if to hide from view.




And yet it was a lovely flower,

It might have graced a rosy bower,

Its colors bright and fair;

Instead of hiding there.

And there diffused a sweet perfume,

Yet there it was content to bloom,

In modest tints arrayed;

In sweet humility.

Within the silent shade.

Then let me to the valley go,

This pretty flower to see;

That I may also learn to grow




~Jane Taylor

I blame Floret.

2018-04-20T07:24:00.001-05:00

I blame Floret. Someone, somewhere, posted a picture of her seed packets and the packaging got to me. I went to the website and proceeded to spend many hours over several days examining every single flower seed Floret has for sale. Then, I bought a few. Just a few. They are quite expensive for seeds.

That simple seed purchase opened the floodgates of interest for me. Cut flowers, heirloom flower seeds, open pollinated flower seeds -- I want to grow them all. So I started reading, and I found some great authors. Great gardeners who wrote great books on cut flowers, heirloom flowers, open pollinated flowers, herbs and veggies for cutting and I read them all. The librarian asked if I *really* has 98 books out. (Yes. ...but some of those are for the kids.) In any case, I narrowed the books down to my very favorites and shared on Instagram:

The New American Herbal: SO interesting. Full of facts you never knew about poisonous herbs, edible herbs, beautiful herbs that no one grows anymore. This book sold me on the charms of mignonette and I am now hunting for some good seeds or even a started flat? Written by Stephen Orr

Growing Beautiful Food: This book is absolutely gorgeous. Wonderful to hold in hand, lovely to look at, and exciting to read. If you love beautiful plants or are into edibles, you MUST seek out this book. Written by Matthew Benson

Cut Flower Garden: The book that started me down this path of cut flowers. I have devoured this book cover to cover and have also been reading everything on Erin's blog. Also, I put in a small second order of seeds from her because I had. to. have. Chocolate Laceflower.

Growing Heirloom Flowers: I am branching out with more annual cut flowers grown from seed, but the backbone of my garden has always been perennial, biennials and bulbs. This book focuses on them ALL. The focus is on "pass along" plants that come true from seed and have weathered many, many years. THESE are the plants I dream about. Written by Chris McLaughlin

The Flower Workshop: Another beautiful book similar in style to Cut Flower Garden. Both dive into individual plants and both were helpful in determining which seeds I will try this year. Written by Ariella Chezar

Now. Back to the soil and time to sow some seeds!

Daffies and Hazels, not Stellas

2018-04-15T12:31:00.001-05:00

I usually try not to tell people what to do in their gardens, but there is one plant I truly hate and I will straight up tell you NO.
You might have this plant. It is an easy plant to grow. It has vibrant color. It is cheap. ...but it is SO UGLY.

Here is the thing: There is a time for gold in the garden.

That time is early spring. When the winds might still blow and the snows might still come, everyone hungers for some sunshine. Rising up out of the mucky soil are daffodils and crocus, forsythia and hazels, little bulbs and big bushes, all clamoring to sing SPRING IS HERE! They give us sunshine when the air is still cool and promise more to come. The yellow peers out from behind tangles of brown, declaring the winter truly over and gone.

That golden color is everything in the early spring.

Once summer arrives, that gold is as old as 1970's Harvest Gold.

Once summer arrives, the heat pounds down and we are no longer looking for sunshine. We cannot help but be bathed in it. Instead, we seek a little coolness in the garden. Whites, blues, purples and fields of green do the trick. Gold just seems to glare at us under the harshness of a summer sky, reminding us to get back inside to our air conditioned hovels. Do you know which plant decides to scream in gold every summer?

Stella d'oro Daylilies

You have seen them before, I am sure.

They are the plant of Cracker Barrels and mall parking lots.

They hang out around mailboxes and fill bare spots around foundations.

They are as ugly as sin.

If you must grow a d'oro, please get a purple one, ok?

Until then, let's celebrate the bright and light yellows of glorious spring daffodils, shall we?

Down a Rabbithole ::: 50 Things

2018-04-15T08:55:00.002-05:00

It started with this post from the Frustrated Gardener's most recent adventure.

He spoke of wild primroses and a quiet place.

Once hooked, I began researching said quiet place.

I learned of rabbit tunnels and ferrets, old mines and a terrain tramper.

Then, the 50 things were mentioned.

50 things activities on the Godolphin estate:

Climb a big hill...

...and roll down it again

Make a trail with sticks

Go barefoot

Dam a stream

Create some wild art

Go stargazing

Catch a falling leaf

Try birdwatching

Find your way with a map and compass

Track a wild animal

Climb a tree

I thought....eh! We can do all of that here! What else is on the 50 Things list?

Turns out the National Trust (UK) encourages kids to get outdoors and accomplish these 50 things before they are 11 3/4. My oldest just turned 12 this weekend and I wanted to see how well we had done.

Turns out we are pretty close to 50....though I do fear we have never hosted a snail race.

Today, we are going to try to boil down some of our maple sap instead. Not on the list, but I think the National Trust would approve.

If you want the pdf pictured above, you can download it for free HERE

Sun - Snow - Rain - Freeze - Sun - Sweat and Snow Once Again

2018-04-05T08:30:00.000-05:00

This spring, it seems the temperature extremes are swinging wildly here in Pennsylvania. Perhaps I am just paying more attention. I remember when I first started gardening in Nebraska, a neighbor told me the last chance of frost was May 1st. I was shocked and in disbelief, because I was outside in shorts on April 13th. Of course, farmers and gardeners have much more wisdom when it comes to the weather because they simply pay attention. Year in and year out, we log temperatures and weather patterns and note when and where plants emerge their pointy little heads or wispy little sprouts.

It is hard to keep one's chin up during these bits of hopeful sunshine and then the slam of snowstorms drowning out the plans for the garden that day. The gray skies and brutal winds are the last thing our soul is craving in March. To combat the weather this year, I am trying to see the bonus of these wild swings.

A. Maple Sap - The sap flowed freely longer than normal this year. Hard freezes and sunny thaws are the perfect combination for lots of sap!

B. "Winter Sowing" - I did not get around to true winter sowing this year in January, but these early spring snows and ice storms have given me the opportunity to do so. The upside of snow in spring is for cool season seeds. They need that freeze/thaw cycle to loosen up the protective seed coats in order to sprout. This process can be imitated by the gardener by placing seeds in hot water, chemical baths, freezing them in the freezer, scratching the seed coats individually with a nail file, etc. However, sprinkling them on top of the snow and letting nature do the work is much easier. An added benefit is being able to see the seeds on the white snow, thus spacing is easier and more exact.

C. Watering - Snow melting provides steady, constant moisture for seeds. When I get my seeds sown in (or before a) snow, I don't have to worry about watering for days, if not weeks.

She is sprinkling "fairy dust" over the seeds I sow -- a little sand! She gets to help sow, but the spacing of seeds stays a little less "clumpy".

Below is the vegetable garden. It was covered in leaves and grass for the winter and I pulled away the leaves to make little trenches for cool season seeds a few weeks ago. Once they get growing, I hope to just move the leaves over as mulch and start a new trench in between rows for a second crop. I have not had to water once, thanks to snow.

Here are my winter-sown seeds this year:

Lupine (Russell Mix)

Borage

Cabbage (Cour di Bue, Brunswick and Early Jersey)

Carrots (Oxheart for our bad soil and Cosmic Purple)

"Fancy" Queen Anne's Lace (Chocolate Laceflower and Queen of Africa)

Iceland Poppies

California Poppies

Breadseed Poppies

Lettuce, Spinach

Evening Scented Stock

Apricot Stock

Bells of Ireland

Covent Gardens Baby's Breath

Love in A Mist (Delft Blue and my own seed)

Hollyhocks (Nigra, Majorette Double Champagne and my own seeds)

Bronze Fennel

White (Common) Yarrow

Lemon Balm

Cosmos and Phlox (just a couple to test germination)

Amaranth (Coral Fountains)

Morning Glory (Heavenly Blue and my own seeds)

Most are heirloom varieties that are open pollinated, so I am hoping to collect seed from and grow my stock of these veggies and flowers. The hollyhock, morning glories and love-in-a-mist are from my garden last year and the rest were purchased this year, mainly from Baker Creek and Floret.

D. The daffodil show has been extended! Early sunny days back in February saw the daffodils and even some tulips popping their heads up to see what was going on. Then, there was snow. The bulbs just slowed down, then grew like lightening whenever the temperatures would warm and the snow melted. The daffodils started blooming and have been blooming and blooming and blooming in a slow, steady show for weeks now. They aren't finished either. Hyacinths and hellebores are both up and blooming. The tulips are almost ready to start their show and I appreciate the slow boil this year.

These are the long awaited tulips from Longfield Gardens - planted last fall in THIS POST

E. There is no rush this year. Typically, the winter is filled with planning and seed buying, then everything gets going all at once in spring. Chores are missed, seed packets are misplaced and the planting window passes and all the sudden the weeds have taken over. This year has been a bit more peaceful. There have been more days to think about and sow cool season flowers and veggies. Daily walks to see what has sprouted and just a few weeds to contend with. Am I anxious for the peonies to get up and the cherry trees to get blooming? YES. However, I have enjoyed this slower start to spring and the chance to plan a little more and sow a little more.

So, sunny Easter dresses one day...

...and skiing down the driveway the next...

Happy Spring 2018!

Tapping Maples

2018-03-15T14:54:00.000-05:00

This is our "sugar bush".

It isn't very grand, and it doesn't even have sugar maples.

What it DOES have are 3 solid red maples that are around 20 years old.

They might be a bit older, but I am guessing around 20-30 yrs based upon their size, bark, roots and the age of the house.

I bought fairly expensive stainless steel taps (on Amazon here for around $7), but am using cheap buckets to collect the sap. The dollar store buckets are working just fine thus far for our three little trees. Larger trees and a more expansive sugar bush would certainly require professional buckets. You can get a plastic tap and tubing kit for around $25 HERE or a beautiful stainless steel kit for $114 RIGHT HERE. I went with a compromise by using the nice steel taps. I have one of our trees set up with a plastic water bottle (a large 1/2 gallon one) and it is actually a more practical solution for the amount of sap the trees are making, but I like the look of the metal buckets.

To tap a tree, drill a "starter" hole at a slightly upward angle. The pith of the tree should be quite white. If there is any black, pick a different spot. Insert the tap and gently hammer it in. Attach a bucket and watch the sap flow every morning!

Here is our half-frozen sap this morning. We plan to boil some of the sap into syrup this season, but typically the kids just drink the sap straight. It tastes like fresh, slightly sweet water and I can't imagine anything is much better to jumpstart your day than fresh spring sap!

Sap Snow maybe??

Transplanting Daffodils In the Green

2018-03-13T10:37:00.002-05:00

I've been reading a lot about transplanting plants, particularly bulbs. The odd thing is that most of the advice given directly goes against my own experience with bulbs, corms and tubers. I have found them to be the toughest of tough when it comes to transplanting, thanks to that handy bundle of energy in the bulb. Encouraged by Charles Dowding to throw away Garden Myths and Misconceptions, I have chosen to do my own experimenting with moving daffodils in the green and have been greatly rewarded for it. Other DO disagree though...

Here is what one gardener says verbatim:

Theoretically, daffodils can be moved "in the green", as long as you take them out of the ground with a large soil mound around the roots, to avoid disturbing the roots. But, in practice, it's very tricky, and can result in killing the blooms for next year, or even the bulb itself, if you mistakenly damage the bulb. Plus, if you're moving them, you very well may want to divide them too, and that cannot be done in the green. Better to wait. You can move them after the foliage is yellow, but before it disappears, thus making it easier to find the bulbs, or, you can mark the spot of the bulbs now, and dig and transplant them in the early fall. I like early fall better because that's when you normally plant bulbs, which says to me that you are disturbing their growth cycle the least. And, there's so much to do in the spring, why not wait till fall? Good luck to you both.

P.S. Be sure to mark the spots with something reasonably permanent: plastic knives are good. So are plastic golf tees. You can also get a cheap vinyl window blind and cut the slats into markers with scissors. If you have many kinds of daffodils, you can indicate the variety, color, or whatever info will help you make a nice arrangement of them later, on your markers. You will NOT remember, and once the blooms are gone, virtually all daffodil foliage looks alike. It takes a little time, but hey! Any excuse to get outside for some exercise and fresh air! :)

[The rest of the discussion is HERE on this Houzz thread]

While I certainly appreciate the cheerful ending to the post, I have to disagree with almost everything In the post. When it comes to daffodils, my experience has been markedly different. After now transplanting daffodils in the hundreds (gosh thousands now really...), I no longer give them any special treatment. We love our daffodils, but we do not baby them!

Theoretically, daffodils can be moved "in the green", as long as you take them out of

the ground with a large soil mound around the roots, to avoid disturbing the roots.

I dig them out by the bucketful and knock the clumps of soil off indelicately hitting the 10 pound clumps against nearby trees.

Leaving the soil intact makes the buckets of daffodils to transplant far too heavy to tote back down the hill.

Then, I pull the clumps apart into individual bulbs, gently enough not to rip all the roots off, but truly it is not very gentle at all.

But, in practice, it's very tricky, and can result in killing the blooms for next year, or even the bulb itself, if you mistakenly damage the bulb.

Plus, if you're moving them, you very well may want to divide them too, and that cannot be done in the green.

I disagree SO HARD with all of this. I may lose a bulb here or there, but I haven't noticed.

What I HAVE noticed are daffodils popping up in the spring everywhere I have chucked them into the ground.

...and by chuck, I mean:

I take a shovel, pull up a clump of clay-like sod and fold it over. This ends up being an 8-12 inch wide rectangle.

I lay 3-5 divided daffodils....single bulbs...on the far edges of the hole.

Then, the sod is flipped back over and I give it a literal whack with the shovel to tamp it down.

The leaves sometimes bounce back, or simply lay on the ground for the first spring.

The next year...

Super healthy and thriving clumps of daffodils that have multiplied already.

Once in awhile, I will leave the daffodils slightly clumped instead of seperating out individual bulbs, but it is for the sake of the planting,

not for the health of the individual daffodils. Take this area of falling rocks for instance:

The wall is crumbling a bit and I am trying to shore it up, while creating a beautiful garden. For years, this area was overgrown with thistle and pokeweed. I have been slowly planting it out and using daffodil clumps to fill in between rocks and smother any weed seeds that would want to germinate. I take a medium sized clump (10-15 bulbs) and put it into an opening in the rocks. Cover with mulch and let the snow and rain water them in. You can see the daffodils moved several weeks ago (above) are happy as can be, perking their leaves straight up already. I would not be surprised if these transplanting clumps actually bloom this first year.

To push my luck even further this year, I have started clearing out the driveway grid and transplanting bulbs "in the green" into these inhospitable "cracks". They might not survive, but if it works, the driveway is going to be magnificent:

See the bulbs near the stone wall? (above) The idea is to fill in more and more cracks where the cars do not drive for a spring show!

They look sad now, but give them a little while to settle in! I think they will pop right back up!

All of these man-handled daffodil transplants are coming straight off of Daffodil Hill.

I told you about our discovery of these hidden daffodils HERE, but I thought I would give you a little tour:

There was a small deer path, but I have started widening it up even further...

Do you see them yet?

Row after row of daffodils planted up on this thorn-infested hill.

The deer have let them be, the daffodils have spread by seed and by bulb...

...and we take out halves of the biggest clumps, leaving many in the woods to multiply:

This hillside got some transplants this year:

The grasses bed behind the hillside got transplants last year that are already coming up:

Soon the hills will be covered in these happy little flowers:

The first daffodils blooming up on Daffodil Hill!

So, take gardening advice with a grain of salt (my advice included!) and experiment with your own

plants on your own land. You might lose a plant or two, but you could gain a hillside of blooms!

Happy Early Spring!

Happy Planting "In The Green"!!!