BLOOM THYME FRIDAY: THE THINKING STAGE

I absolutely love the planning stage of gardening! Time to look back at pictures I took from seasons past, re-read the notes I took in my garden journal and random pieces of paper 🙄, and start dreaming of what’s next.

I am very grateful for the “save” flag on Instagram. So, when I see something that is similar to my style I “save” for an easy look back. I also print! Yes print real pictures of things I like from my garden and others. I find that having real pictures to look at makes a huge difference. The assistants in the WalMart electronics section know me. It is so easy on my iPhone to send photos to Walmart via the PhotoPrints+ app.

THE THINKING STAGE

These days we are traveling more and more which we love. So with that comes the need for thinking through plant care while we are away.

CONTAINERS…

Next year I will “mostly” plant things in containers that need very little care – especially very little water. This year I started this approach to containers by testing a few. I planted Autumn Joy sedum in two planters and it was gorgeous and needed relatively no care and minimal water. My main front porch planter which has always been filled with very thirsty annuals of some sort was planted with a group of succulents. While my daughter was in California, I fell in love succulents and loved how they were used in plantings. This container was by far my very favorite ever! 

WINTER SOWING…

I will be doing more Winter Sowing and less seed starting under lights. The big exception to that is Lisianthus. I will still be planting those under lights in the Potting Shed! It’s risky but worth the risk. 

Winter Sowing is so easy and brings much more success than failure for little money and time. Here is a link to a post where I talk more about that process. LINK

Now as you may remember many of these plants made it through winter but didn’t survive the spring varmint invasion. The “plant plan” was solid. 🤣 Obviously, the “varmint plan” needs a bit more work. 😳

Water…

We are starting to investigate irrigation systems. Nothing too sophisticated but a way to automatically get water to many of the roses as needed. If you have suggestions or ideas about this I’d love to hear them!

GETTING TO KNOW YOU WALL

Years ago we covered the largest wall in the Potting Shed with cattle panel type fencing. I’ve always used it to display things that make me happy. Last year I was very focused on what went on the “cattle panel” wall. The main things I wanted there were pictures and details about the new plants that I was adding to the garden so I could get used to their look and habit through the winter as I drew up my plans; I also added some seed packets that I was planning to use that I was somewhat unfamiliar with; as plans were drawn up, they too went on the “wall”. I can’t tell you how helpful it was. By the time I was to the planting stage, I was old friends with many of my new plants and plans! 

Now everything has been taken down and I’m ready to start again.

NEW GARLIC BED!

My garlic bed got a upgrade! Mr. G rebuilt all three of my raised beds! Aren’t they fantastic!!

Planting garlic is so rewarding for me. Since I don’t grow many of my own veggies, it is so nice to have one of our main flavorings from our garden. And, it is such a nice gift to share! The garlic I’ve planted the last three years is Chesnok Red – a hardneck variety that is good for northern gardens. It’s yummy and pretty! But, there are so many varieties. Most seed companies sell garlic and I’ve also bought from THE GARLIC STORE in Colorado (link).

🧄 If you are new to growing garlic and would like to give it a try, here are my growing/curing notes (link).

BLOOM THYME: WINTER WINDOW BOX

Each year the window box on the Potting Shed is filled with foraged finds from the garden. Just going around the garden collecting items for the window box is pure pleasure. Once it is complete, we get to enjoy it all winter long from the kitchen window. Mr. G says of all the gardeny decor things I do … this is one of his favorites!

“A NATIONAL DAY OF THANKSGIVING AND PRAISE”

Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a “A National Day of Thanksgiving and Praise” on October 3, 1863. Sarah Josepha Hale, the woman who wrote “Mary Had A Little Lamb,” was a contributing factor to Lincoln’s making the decision. She had actually starting “campaigning” for Thanksgiving in 1846, so she was serious about it. Before 1863, the holiday was mostly only celebrated in the Northeast where she was from. And when it comes to our traditional feast … well she had a say in that too…

Her first novel, Northwood: A Tale of New England, described a Thanksgiving feast circa 1827, replete with a large family table topped with roasted turkey, gravy, and vegetables. She subsequently lobbied the President to bestow official status upon Thanksgiving, and is often referred to as “the Godmother of Thanksgiving.” -Real Simple Magazine website  Well done Sarah. I love turkey and gravy!

I  do love the Thanksgiving season and the focus on what we have to be grateful for. We have so much! If Thanksgiving as a holiday could take hold in the middle of the Civil War, we can celebrate with wild abandon for all that we have!

Friends, thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving season!

The Long Goodbye

Today was that day. The day that the real frost arrived. I was out early to take some pictures. I never want to miss the garden with that first glisten.

Last week I was making bokays of roses — the latest I ever remember! I was thinking I was going to be like my Cali and southern garden freinds who always talk (brag) about having roses for their Thanksgiving table. I ALMOST MADE IT. One week out!

But, the roses are yawning and saying, “good night.” Time for a long winter’s nap. They were amazing this year, so I will “allow” them this time.

Last rose “glamour shots” of 2016…

img_2729

img_2740

img_2739

img_2738

img_2730

img_2742

img_2736

Thanks for stopping by!

teresa_gardendiary-0011

The Lion…

March is coming in like a lion! But, it is beautifully peaceful in the garden and the birds are loving it. So, I guess if you can’t beat them, you join them! Today I will enjoy the snow we have and the snow we continue to get for the rest of the day. Mr. G says it is a church, soup, movie and brownie day – in that order.

Hearing the happy birds chirping…

Yesterday I saw pictures of my friends in the south pruning their roses. No roses are being pruned here!

How are things in your neck of the woods today?

Winter Came to the Rose Garden

This morning I woke up to 16 degrees and today was a day I had set again to do more winterizing in the garden. So, I donned my dad’s hunting coat and one of his old flannel shirts (and my thermals) grabbed my pruners and headed out to prune some of those extra long rose canes and to add some mulch to those that I know to be a little more tender. Most of my roses can take most any weather that winter dishes out. (You can read more about that here.)

All it took was to just “be” in my garden for more than a few minutes stolen here and there and I was transformed. The birds were singing, the frost added an enchanting sparkle and God showed up. Just as he always does when I am in the garden. I cast all my cares on him … and he takes them as his own and I am different for it. The greatest peace I have ever known is in the quiet peacefulness of mornings in my garden. It doesn’t matter the chore, it simply is all that for me. And, if you throw in some potting shed time … well you have the fixings of a perfect day. I hope that you have someplace in your life where you are at peace and God shows up. We know he is always with us and he doesn’t just “show up,” but in the stillness of a special place we “know it’ more.

Here are a few images of the winter roses … 


Gated Community Dressed in White…

ThaIMG_0191nks to Mr. G’s superb handiwork, my roses and their companions live in a gated community. In no way are these gates opening today! We have had 15″ on fluffy snow and it is packed. With the extreme temperatures (-37 windchill / -8 real temp), this snow isn’t going anywhere.

But, the gates are still pretty…

Gate # 1...
Gate # 1…

Gate # 2
Gate # 2

Gate # 3
Gate # 3

Gate going into the herb garden...
Gate going into the herb garden…

Here are some other shots I took this morning as I waded into snow up to my knees — but, man, was it good to be outside!

Beautiful trellis Mr. G built. Peggy Martin rose and Francis E. Lester rose will be beautiful out there--- in a few months!
Beautiful trellis Mr. G built. Peggy Martin rose and Francis E. Lester rose will be beautiful out there— in a few months!

Bird bath in herb garden...
Bird bath in herb garden…

View of the "gated community."
View of the “gated community.”

Hard to believe that in a few months we will be back to this…

Oh, the miracles that gardeners get to see…

Dust and Dawn combination...
Dust and Dawn combination…

IMG_1408

The Queen with her neighbors...
The Queen with her neighbors…

New arbor is across from another rose arbor with New Dawns. They'll be good neighbors I think!
New arbor is across from another rose arbor with New Dawns. They’ll be good neighbors I think!

How about you?

What’s going on in your garden today? Are you like my California rose friend, Baldo Villegas (pictures of his process are here.) and you are pruning your roses this week, OR are you more like me … waiting on spring while you slip and slide through winter?

Blurring the Lines

At our house we like to blur the lines between inside and outside as much as possible. No we don’t have terra ferma for floors … yet. Did I just say that. Let’s just keep that between us. Mr. G need not know.

Today is one of those rare days in Indiana where it is sunny and even though it is 34 degrees, to me it feels like 70 and I just have to be outside! So, I spent the day “decorating” outside. Through the long winter months I love to look outside my window and see pretty things!

I’ve been on a scavenger hunt today to find things in the garden to add to the vignettes we will enjoy out our windows through the long Indiana winter…

IMG_6908IMG_6939IMG_6945

IMG_6931

Treat for the hard-working gardener. ; )
Treat for the hard-working gardener. ; )

Happy New Year from our Snow Globe

The snow just keeps coming!

So far this week we have had 12″ of snow and the way it is coming down today, it looks like we will accumulate 2 or 3 more. My roses and their companions look like they are in the middle of a snow globe.

Happy New Year from our snowy home to yours!

To see other videos of our garden throughout the year, click here.

Winter Garden: First Snow

Today we have our first snow and this morning it looks fresh and beautiful and boy is it cold… windchill factor is 7 degrees! Burrrrrr…. wasn’t it in the 50s a couple of days ago?

Here’s my view today in and around The Potting Shed

SNOWDAY_002 SNOWDAY_001 SNOWDAY_003
SNOWDAY_004
SNOWDAY_005

As you know I spend a lot of time dreaming of spring but for today, I am enjoying the pretty snow.

By the way… it is only 88 days until spring! If you want to see how the garden looks in the spring, check out these posts…

Dogwood Trees in Bloom…

Spring Day…

November Garden

Spent today getting the roses and their companions ready for a long winter’s nap and decorating the potting shed porch. Now we wait for snow!

We have had a beautiful fall and I AM excited about Christmas and I do LIKE snow, but  I LOVE spring and that comes in 113 days!

CONFESSION:  I told myself I would wait until after Christmas to order new roses, BUT I have already ordered a “few.” I’ll share my list–after Christmas. 🙂

You might also like….

Roses in my garden…