Website!

Please be sure to take a look at my website. I think it is pretty beautiful. More work to be done, projects to share and tweaking to do, but I am very happy with the look of things and to just have an operating website! Many thanks to my friend James Parker for his help as well as Matt - my main Man!

You may also click on the button to the right to be directed to said website. AND look for some new pretty branding to come soon too! All this in addition to 10 clients! That's right, I am managing 10 clients at once at the moment, life is busy busy busy - and I am grateful.

Turning a "Black" Thumb Green

"My gardens have given me permission to experiment, break rules, and foster a rebellious streak that is an important but often pushed aside part of who I am.

Our gardens should be a free space where each of us can find joy, make discoveries, and feel whole. Guilt, shame, and feelings of insecurity have no place there." - Gayla Trail

I recently conducted a small discussion with some lovely ladies from my Sister's neighborhood about vegetable gardening, as well as trying to have visual interest in the ornamental garden all summer long. Toward the end of this discussion a sweet lady exhaled;"So much to do, it makes me not want to even start." This was of course the complete opposite feeling I wanted my audience to leave with - my thoughts turned to this post on the blog You Grow Girl I recently read. It explored many thoughts I have had about being a gardener and the frustrations so many have expressed to me regarding their "black" thumbs. For heaven sakes, it is the reason I have started this business around the idea "that many would like to get their hands dirty and ‘dig’ in the dirt – but most just aren’t sure where to start."

Gayla outlined her thoughts into 4 points:
Experience + Consistency & Persistence + Observation & Adaptation + Failure

A difficult part of gardening for some is the lack of exactness and the reality that the materials used grow and change. This is a particularly difficult variable in the aspect of design - most materials used to design with are man made materials that do not change, they don't live and die and come back to life again each year. Personally this to me is in large the beauty in designing with such a material, but it can feel overwhelming and frustrating to many.

Example; one may be frustrated that there is lackluster in their ornamental garden in the month of June. Through experience you will start to notice the holes that exists in your garden. When you are consistent with the care of your garden you may notice plants will bloom longer for you.When you are an observant gardener you can take note of those plants that do bloom in the 4 week void you would like to fill in other gardens around you. And If you will accept failure; acceptance in the reality that the material you are choosing to work with is a living being that will at times die or accepting that you will sometimes fail in the care of your garden and are willing to learn from those mistakes you will find that you have not only - through time - filled that gap in your garden but have gained confidence in your own ability to be a gardener.

"In the real world gardeners kill plants and gardens get pests and diseases. Sometimes life gets in the way and we don’t have the money to buy something we want or the time to commit to making our garden the showpiece we would like it to be. This is not evidence that you have a Black Thumb. More importantly, you learn more when you are willing to take chances & give yourself space to screw up. It’s often in those failures that we have the biggest AHA! moments." - Gayla Trail

No black thumbs my friends, just green thumbs in progress!

Not sure how to get started down the path to a green thumb? I give consultations!

What's On

There isn't much in bloom by way of herbaceous perennials this time of year. Most Perennials are just greening up and gearing up to bloom when warmer temperatures strike. There are however a few great low growing perennials in bloom mid-spring; which seems fitting as they serve as fantastic back drops to the fervently blooming bulbs.

Aubrietia or "Rockcress" is a mid-spring blooming perennial that ranges in color from magenta pink, violet purple to deep purple. This plant grows to about 6" high and will spread. Rockcress is often used in rock gardens for it's "cascading nature".

Brunnera macrophylla with it's spotted leaves and appropriate pastel blue flowers are a sweet addition to the spring garden, working well with the yellow and orange hues of daffodils. Quickly grows 12" in height.

Arabis - also referred to as "Rockcress" is extremely similar to Aurbrietia. A big difference in the case of Arabis is the white variety, but when faced with a pink Arabis I often second guess myself. Same growth habit as the Aurbrietia, 6" tall and loves to pour itself over walls.

Heather or Erica darlyensis is a fantastic low growing shrub-like perennial. Unlike these other plants, Heather will maintain an interesting texture in the garden, giving it purpose outside of it's bloom time, in this designer's humble opinion that is.
The silvery foliage and "spiky" texture lend well to a garden year round.

What plants are you noticing in bloom?

Spring Garden To Do's #1

I was fortunate to get some time in the garden. I felt my body soften, relax and wake up from it's winter dormancy. The air was fresh and warm and life was all about me with birds singing, insects crawling and green leaves poking up from the warming soil. Here is what I did:

Weeded;
Get after the weeds early - they tend to be the first green you will see in the garden, with the exception of some spring perennials and bulbs.

It is important to get weeds up by their roots, in many cases a new rosette will develop from roots that were left behind.

(I am afraid it is common for me to use garden tools not for their designed purpose, e.g. using hedgers in above photo to pop out weed seedlings. Do as I say, not as I do and use a trowel or a hand weeder. Don't be as hard on your tools as I am. :))

Be sure to identify what are weeds and what are your bulbs getting ready to send up their stems. Pictured above is an Alium (r. corner) next to what is likely a seedling of Common Groundsel.
Good old dandelion next to the water source. Generally speaking what makes weeds weeds is their attempt at using your ornamental plant's resources; i.e. water and sunlight.

Cut back perennial grasses;

(Miscanthus Grass before being cut down)

It was also time to get those perennial grasses cut down. This can be done in the fall if one prefers, but perennial grasses are such nice winter interest, and at this point they will be getting green and growing tall in just a matter of a couple of months - where you would have to live with the void they leave all through the winter if cut back in the fall.

(Miscanthus Grass After being cut down)

Just use some hedgers and cut grasses at their base, about 3 inches above the ground. It is much easier if you tie the grasses up before cutting, and be careful they can give you a nasty "paper cut."
Looks a little bare now, but the magic is about to start...

Can't tell Groundsel from Ground cover? Give me a call!