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! ๐
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.ย 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!!