I have been away for a few days. I have seen beautiful things. I have been with beautiful people. I am refreshed. I am now very ready for spring. And with the weather we are having, I am tempted to do too much. High temps one day and low temps the next. There’s much to be said about March … In like a lion … out like a lamb. Yes, March is a jam-packed month… Calling us to spring forward, participate in March Madness (Indiana), beware the ides, don our green for St. Patrick, and usher in SPRING! 💐
BOOK GIVEAWAY
On March 1st the winner of the GARDEN MAKER by Christie Purifoy was selected. Sherry Lewis, our winner, will be receiving her new book soon. Congratulations Sherry!
Thank you to all of you who shared your favorite book both on social media and the blog. I wish I could send each of you a copy of this delightful book. If you are interested, you can read more about it or purchase here.
BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS
We are all winners with the great book ideas that came in! Several of you had the same favorites! Over the next few weeks, I will share some of the books you recommended.
TASHA TUDOR
Several mentioned Tasha Tudor books. Tasha is a very favorite of mine. She certainly lived life her way and inspired us with her journey. Although she was born in 1915, she chose to live a lifestyle of the early 1800s. Her garden is a legendary work of cottage garden art. These books are in short supply so best to buy them as used books. Often they can often be found on Amazon reasonably. If currently available, I provided a link.
Tasha Tudor’s Garden by Tovah Martin
The Private World of Tasha Tudor by Richard Brown
The Tasha Tudor Cookbook by Tasha Tudor
ANOTHER RECOMMENDATION…
Empress of the Garden by Michael Shoup (Owner of Antique Rose Emporium)
Jolene Angelos shared… “This is a very large book filled with beautiful photos, interesting facts, and histories of an array of roses.”
I don’t have this particular book but I do have Mike’s book on Landscaping with Antique Roses and it is fabulous. Link here.
ABOUT MIKE SHOUP
Mike Shoup has a deep and profound love of the rose. We chatted about his fascinating rose story on Rose Chat last year. I just love to hear him talk about roses! Did you know he did a Ted Talk about his rose story? I think you would enjoy the podcast!
ROSE CHAT PODCAST
ROSES THE ULTIMATE GARDEN PLANT with Mike Shoup
In this episode, Mike Shoup, author of several books and creator of the Antique Rose Emporium, takes us on a creative journey with roses and gives us their history and the ways they complement every garden. You can listen here.
POTTING SHED PUTTERINGS
As you know, I have several dahlias on order but I found 2 packs of Dahlia tubers at WalMart and 1 pack at Lowes that I couldn’t resist. They are potted up and doing very well. I couldn’t believe how quickly they sprouted. I also potted up one that I wintered over but so far no sprouts. I have much to learn about the overwintering process.
The Lisianthus I started a few weeks back were big enough this week to move up into individual pots. Look at those roots – even on the tiny ones. Fingers crossed these all make it through the rest of the seedling processes!
I also have a new plant I am very excited about… an Easter cactus. I picked it up at a favorite local garden center, Country Harmony. There were so many beautiful plants there!
Friends, wherever you are I hope your days are filled with sunshine and all the excitement that March can bring to a gardener! We are on the home stretch now. SPRING IS SPRINGING!!
🌱🌸🌱💐🌱🌼🌱
Although my birthday is March 15, I will not take offence. 😉
That’s funny! Happy birthday early!
I’ll have to dust off my coy of Tasha Tudor’s Garden purchased several years ago during a vacation in Vermont. You got lisianthus to sprout!!! I’ve heard it’s very difficult – kudos!
I just love your blog as you inspire me and, hopefully, everyone else. Just read about all of Christie Purifoy’s other books. She is certainly a Christian lady and even has a PhD in English Literature. And the very talented and much beloved Tasha Tudor who had her own goats and made her own goat cheese and always planted daffodils in her garden. If you or your readers want to go to the website, Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Museum of Folk Art, Williamsburg, VA, you should be able to see Tasha’s wonderful large dollhouse that was on exhibit there many years ago at Christmastime. Since I live close to Williamsburg, VA, my family and I went to see it. You do not want to miss it as I think she did all of the work herself or most of it anyway. I, too, have one of her books and remember reading that she made her own bread and used wood to fire her stove and cook her bread and other food on it. What a very talented artist she was in everything she did! And in the sidebar one can see all of the beautiful 18th century Williamsburg Christmas door decorations that are done every year using all natural and fresh materials that are placed on the doors in the historic area down the Duke of Gloucester Street in
Williamsburg, VA. Yesterday I purchased some lovely dahlias (lavender and yellow). Monday’s temperature here is supposed to be 80 degrees. The birds are screeching and squawking in my backyard! And the robins are back, and the finches are trying to build a nest in my front door wreath on the porch as they did last spring. Have a blessed week. Thank you again!!!