Bring on the Birds!

I love birds. I am somewhat less than fond of the woodpecker that’s making a loud drumming sound just outside my window, but I know that it’s just trying to advertise, letting other woodpeckers know what’s up this spring. The little winter wren that’s warbling in the tree can stay, though. Birds are beautiful, but they’re also an asset to your garden. Birds in the garden eat up bugs that eat your plants, creating ecological connections that help your garden grow. How can you attract birds to your garden? Natural Bird Feeders Natural bird food – what is it? Well, … Continue reading →

Weird Berries for Your Garden

You’re a lover of blueberries, an eater of raspberries, and a forager of blackberries. Yes, you adore berries, and your summer-stained face shows it. But have you forgotten a few? Here are some berries that you may already be growing in your garden, but you might be completely unaware that they’re edible! 1. Edible honeysuckles – While you might think of honeysuckles for their fragrance and for their ability to attract pollinators, did you know that there’s a shrubby honeysuckle that’s also edible? It’s called the honeyberry, or Lonicera caerulea edulis. The flavor is a mixture of blueberry, currant, and … Continue reading →

Planting Tomatoes was a Brilliant Idea!

Can I just say how brilliant it was for my husband and I to plant tomatoes this year? I simply did not see the big picture in the beginning. I thought it was boring waiting for our tomato plants to grow. I kept going outside to water and would think it was a waste of time. We waited what felt like months for the small plants to grow big enough to be transferred from the small little pot to the ground. My attitude completely changed when the tomatoes started to grow. When the tomatoes ripened I was ecstatic. It has … Continue reading →

Turning Blue

Other blue plants for your garden might include Wandering Jew, which is a brilliant royal blue flower. Mick insists it is a weed because of the way this ground cover takes over, but I just love it because of the color. If you’re going to plant it be careful where you plant it though. The same goes for forget me nots. A sweet old fashioned ground cover flower in sky blue, but they can ruin rampant if left unchecked. Wandering Jew however has been known to cause allergies in dogs. So if you have a canine friend it might be … Continue reading →

Turning Your Garden Blue

Here are some other ideas to turn your garden blue. I’ve included some of those that are mauve and purple as well, as they just look so great in a blue garden. One of my absolute favorites when it comes to trees is the jacaranda. They are a picture when they are in flower. The jacaranda is a deciduous tree and so it ends up looking like a dead stick in winter before it regains its leaves and then flowers. But there is nothing prettier than that jacaranda blue. I once wrote a poem called exactly that, about the small … Continue reading →

Am I Blue?

Blue is a soothing and a meditative color. If you’re like me and want to add some blue to your garden here are some suggestions. I adore blue flowers. In our garden at present we have bluebells coming up. They are a simple old fashioned but charming flower. Plumbago is one of my favorite blue flowering plants. This is a sprawling type of shrub, so for that reason it is best grown against a fence or in a corner. It gets smothered with summer sky blue flowers for much of the year. Ours, we have three, are not currently flowering … Continue reading →

Growing Orchids

Orchids are one of my favorite flowers. They are great to grow for several reasons. Firstly, they come in a huge range of colors from white through beige and pinks and greens to deep maroons and purples. Last weekend my husband and I went to a local wholesale nursery and of course we came away with three new orchids, two are green. I love green flowers nearly as much as I love blue ones. The third is a rich pinky red. We already have several orchids. Throughout the year they grow outside in pots in a spot where they will … Continue reading →

Three Beautiful but Poisonous Plants

Last week I looked at some plants you might not want in your garden because of allergic reactions to them. Here are some others that are poison and you will need to think carefully about planting, especially of you have children who want to put everything in their mouths. Oleander Beautiful to look at, especially the candy pink oleander which from my observation always seems to be the most prolific flowerer of all the oleanders. Leaves and flowers however are poisonous. The advantage is that they taste dreadful, so that may solve the problem. We had an oleander in a … Continue reading →

Problem Plants in the Garden

Some plants could cause health problems for some people. Here are a few you might want to think carefully about before planting them or deciding where to plant them. Wattle or acacia is one that affects many people, when it is flowering, with hay fever. But it doesn’t affect everyone. I can eco-exist quite happily with wattle and even bring it in the house in a vase as cut flowers to no ill effect but I cannot go with ten feet of a crepe myrtle bush, which gives me severe hay fever. This is a shame as they are spectacularly … Continue reading →

Decide What You Want in the Garden

When planting shrubs in your garden you will need to think not only about whether you want flowering shrubs and if so what color. You will also need to think about what you want the shrub to do. Is it for a hedge or a screen for privacy, to fill in a bare spot or add height to the garden or relive hard angles from the house or just to look pretty? Another thing you might want to consider is the character of the plant. I’m a huge fan of plumbago particularly the deeper blue, though I like the one … Continue reading →