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Start Your 2023 Wish List with These New Plants

November 10, 2022 By Heather Blackmore Leave a Comment

August series Rudbeckia

There's a certain amount of anticipation that goes along with an invitation to a garden event showcasing new plants. You know you're not coming away from it unscathed, but in the best sort of way. For me, such invitations result in some serious plant lust, the kind that fills my garden brain with intrusive thoughts throughout the day about how I can use all those new plants. Remember, I have a relatively small garden so space is limited. But the upside is that I have all winter to figure it out. Waiting is the hardest part and what I'm about to show you won't be available until 2023. I thought it best to save this post until you'd buttoned up Garden 2022. It seems to resonate better when one isn't consumed by all the plants currently in their keep. This summer, I toured the display ...

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Filed Under: Gardening, Uncategorized Tagged With: AngelDance Angelonia, Ball Horticulture, Canna, Canna Cannova Bronze Peach, Delphinium Red Lark, Jurassic Begonias, new plants, pollinator plants, Rex Begonia, rudbeckia, Rudbeckia August Forest, Rudbeckia August Sun, Sedum Little Shine, Tomato Sun Dipper, tomatoes, Verbena Purple and White

Raised Bed Garden Glow Up Part 2: Staining

September 30, 2022 By Heather Blackmore Leave a Comment

staining a raised bed

Thanks to Vermont Natural Coatings for partnering with me on this post. All thoughts and opinions belong to yours truly. When it comes to staining my raised beds, it's gotta be clean. If you go to any home improvement center looking for exterior wood stain, you'll find shelf after shelf of options that will do the job. Very few however, offer the reassurance I require of anything I use in and around my home. The thought of chemicals invading the soil in my organic garden and infiltrating the fruits and veg I grow for my family creeps me out. I've always been conscious of the foods we eat, especially so following the diagnosis of my daughter's digestive disorder in 2017. I became an even bigger food snob. Quality of life comes down to lifestyle and clean food is a huge part of that ...

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Filed Under: Food, Gardening, My Garden, SIBO (pronounced See-BO), Uncategorized Tagged With: food garden, organic wood stain, PolyWhey Exterior Wood Stain, raised beds, staining wood, Vermont Natural Coatings, wood stain

Raised Bed Garden Glow Up Part 1: Pre-Stain Prep

September 16, 2022 By Heather Blackmore 3 Comments

Powerwashing

Absence has definitely made my heart grow fonder and deeply aware that a garden glow-up is in order. It's not that I've lost the love for my garden, namely the raised bed vegetable garden, I've just been away from it and it's painfully obvious. From the weed covered area around the beds to the quagmire of random vegetables spilling out and everywhere, the vegetable garden reflects the year we've had. Stressful and reactive. I planted the tomatoes, peppers, zucchini and tomatillos, and that's about all I did. Somehow, things grew and I had a decent harvest which makes me wonder just how important the gardener is to the garden. As a sidenote, many of my just-blushing tomatoes have a single bite in them, courtesy of the growing population of chipmunks in the garden. Add that to the ...

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Filed Under: Gardening Tagged With: food garden, food gardening, garden diy, power washing, raised beds, vegetable garden, wood staining

Some Much Needed Inspiration from Walters Gardens

September 1, 2022 By Heather Blackmore 2 Comments

ornamental grass

My garden has been begging me to get out of it. I think it was the best thing I could do for it this summer. The oldest part of my garden is on the west side of my house, just inside the gate. It's about 15 years old and it's looking it's age. Plants have an expiration date. Either they age out of beauty in the eyes of the gardener or they simply lose their vibrance. I think there's a little of both going on here. I've been staring at the same space with the same plants for years and finding it difficult to reimagine it any other way. I needed a new perspective so I ditched my garden for the day and made a two-hour drive to Walters Gardens in Zeeland, Michigan. I spent the entire morning considering, imagining and snapping pictures of scenes and combos that appealed to me. The colors ...

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Filed Under: Gardening Tagged With: agapanthus, allium, black plants, elderberry, hibiscus, kniphofia, pennisetum, plant combos, sedum, Walters Gardens

Jalapeno Pepper Jelly Ain’t Just for Crackers

August 19, 2022 By Heather Blackmore 3 Comments

Jalapeno Pepper Jelly

It's that time in the gardening season when you look at your garden and wonder, " What the heck am I gonna do with all those ____________?" Could be tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini. However you fill in the blank, discovering ways to use all that delicious homegrown goodness is challenging. Several years ago, I asked myself this question while staring at hill of huge jalapeno peppers. And that's how my family formed an addiction to jalapeno pepper jelly. Jalapeno plants are highly productive and if you don't have a plan, in the garbage or compost bin they go. Unlike my husband, I don't eat them like apples. Food pantries are a good option, as are neighbors, but spicy peppers are not a universally desired food. This is the moment water bath canning entered my world. A quick search of ...

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Filed Under: Food, Gardening Tagged With: ball canning, canning, condiments, jalapeno jelly, jalapeno pepper jelly, jalapenos, mason jars, water bath canning

The Best Garlic to Grow for Northern Gardeners

August 5, 2022 By Heather Blackmore 4 Comments

Garlic

Chances are you like to eat. Me too! I'm also assuming you buy garlic from the grocery store. I did too until I got a taste of the real McCoy. I'm not saying what you're buying isn't real garlic. It is, just not the kind of taste bud blowing garlic you'd have if you grew your own. So why limit yourself? Most grocery store garlic bulbs are softneck varieties from California or China. That's a helluva lot of food miles! It's what most Americans know. But once you have a go with homegrown garlic, you'll never go back. I promise you. And if I haven't sold you already, what if I told you it's probably the easiest crop to grow and autumn is prime planting time here in the Midwest! Gather Your Garlic Growing Supplies Here's the deal. You really don't need supplies other than garlic, ...

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Filed Under: Food, Gardening, My Garden, Uncategorized Tagged With: choosing garlic, cold climate gardening, food gardening, garlic, hardneck garlic, northern garden, planting garlic, softneck garlic

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I'm Heather and I love to grow stuff. LOTS of stuff. Most importantly, a healthy family. I'm a stay-at-home mom with a passion for playing in the dirt. Read More…

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I love the chop and drop method of garden clean-up I love the chop and drop method of garden clean-up and I did a little of it today. You could also run your lawn mower over your perennial beds and I’ve done that as well. But we’ve had some rain and the ground is very soft. I went with the pruners to avoid compacting my already dense soil. Do you chop and drop? It’s such a budget friendly way to build your soil! #chopanddrop #springcleanup #gardentipsandtricks #soilhealth #healthysoil #budgetfriendly #garden #gardening #gardentips #soilhealth #gardensoil #smallspacegardening #chicagogarden #zone5b #hereshegrows
What better welcome home than several clumps of Fl What better welcome home than several clumps of Flore Pleno snowdrops? #earlyspringflowers #galanthus #snowdropseason #florepleno #springgarden #smallspacegarden #zone5bgardening #chicagogarden #springbulbs #bulbs #backyardgardener #hereshegrows
After visiting the @naplesbotanical garden, I want After visiting the @naplesbotanical garden, I want to hang orchids from all my trees this summer. Then reality sets in and I remember I live in a cold climate and all the orchids I see in my imagination will have to be brought inside for winter. So yeah, reality check. Aren’t those roots amazing?! #orchids #epiphytes #houseplants #orchidcollection #hangingorchids #orchiddisplay #orchiddendrobium
Happy Spring! American Goldrush rudbeckia is anoth Happy Spring! American Goldrush rudbeckia is another low maintenance perennial that gives way more than it takes. Despite my back and forth with plant choices for the redo of my patio garden, this has been a constant. I have several clumps of it throughout the garden and will divide it again for this space. Other plants in this very narrow garden include Allium ‘Millenium,’ Shasta daisy ‘Becky’ and James Galway climbing rose from David Austin. It’s a popular pollinator spot and so easy to maintain. #pollinatorgarden #pollinatorgardens #rudbeckia #allium #easyplants #garden #gardening #gardendesign #gardenideas #perennialgarden #perennials #perennialborder #zone5b #smallspacegarden #chicagogarden #hereshegrows
Twenty years ago, I was a young mom with two babie Twenty years ago, I was a young mom with two babies in diapers and this was where I began. I didn’t have a clue what I was doing and a lot of plants met their end here. The most important part is that I kept gardening and learning more every single day. I think that’s what I love so much. The not knowing. It’s an ongoing experiment and I’ve been in love with the process since the first time I buried my kitchen scraps in this area that I hoped would become something lovely and good. #mygarden #smallspacegarden #chicagogarden #gardening #garden #gardendesign #zone5bgardening #zone5 #perennialgarden #plantcombinations #urbangarden #sungarden #easyplants #latespring #perennialborder #gardeninspo #hereshegrows
My shady entry garden is heavy on foliage, light o My shady entry garden is heavy on foliage, light on flowers and it’s one of my favorite spaces. Hosta, heuchera and geranium macrorrhizum are some of my favorite low maintenance plants for dry shade. I love the patchwork of colors and textures and the randomness of the Everest alliums that dance above it all in the spring. #shadegarden #shadegardening #entrygarden #dryshade #easyplants #gardening #madeintheshade #garden #gardendesignideas #gardenideas #perennialgarden #foliageplants #chicagogarden #zone5bgardening #smallspacegardening #hereshegrows
Flowers are fleeting, but foliage is where it’s Flowers are fleeting, but foliage is where it’s at. You can’t go wrong with coleus, lungwort and colocasia. The coleus was a single plant that I pinched back several times to create this rounded beauty. #foliagefriday #foliage #gardening #coleus #lungwort #gardenideas #gardenplanning #gardendesign #entrygarden #gardengate #zone5b #chicagogarden #urbangarden #smallspacegarden #hereshegrows
I’m happy with how this newest part of my garden I’m happy with how this newest part of my garden is coming together. The Abies concolor ‘Blue Cloak’ was a birthday present I gave myself two years ago. The long blue needles are so beautiful. Eventually, that arbor will be covered in pink David Austin James Galway roses. I planted them bareroot last year so give this area a little more time and we’ll circle back to it. It’s hard to be patient! #garden #firtree #gardenideas #arbor #inmygarden #smallspacegarden #zone5b #chicagogarden #hereshegrows
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