You're invited regularly visit my site to see our changing garden. Every time I take a walk through our families' garden, even if it is the second or third time on the same day, I notice something different. It might be a happy accident of nature or a newly blooming flower, a beautiful combination, a great fragrance. Walking through the garden and stopping to look is always an adventure full of surprises.

Visitors find it hard to believe we don't use chemical fertilizers, or pesticides. I do add compost to most gardens yearly, as nature intended.

The Roses Exploded in Blooms Ignited by 90 Degree Days

The lilac and peony walk in Bloom

Tree peonies in bloom!

April 14, 2011
April showers bring wet flowers!

April 1, 2011
April Showers Bring the Flowers

March, 21, 2011
Happy First Day of Spring!

March 13, 2011
Winter’s Blooms

Crocus	Dwarf Iris
Hellebores	Winter Aconite and Snowdrops

February 15, 2011
Finally Winter Blooms

After the snowiest January on record when it was impossible to walk through the garden without thigh-high boots, we have finally had warmer temperatures to melt the snow. For weeks I could only stare out a window or walk around the driveway after it was plowed.  It is remarkable how fast winter plants, given a few warm days, burst into flower.  As I walked around I smelled the witch hazels, cut some Erica for indoors, and admired the few blooming pansies, winter aconite and snowdrops. The hellebore buds rested their heads on the ground. They’ll sprout quickly if warmer temperatures persist.

Close up of a witch hazel bloom	Snowdrops	Pancy
Winter aconite	Witch Hazel	Hellebore

January 27, 2011
The Snowest January on Record

It is official, more show fell this month then has been recorded for our area. While it has made it difficult to get around, it sure is beautiful. Here are some early morning shots taken at our garden by Gina Norgard.

January 13, 2011
Close-ups of Winter's Plants

Gina Norgard, an extraordinary photographer, captured these close-ups of plants in our garden after the latest snow fall.

The seedheads of Japanese anemones were caps of snow.	The red rose, 'Scarlet Mediland is weighted down by snow.	The leeks look untouched by frost and snow.
The hosta leaves are crisp and white, like sheets of thin paper.	Borage's soft down looks like needles when it is frozen.	Furry lamb's ear freezes into interesting patterns but doesn't appear damaged by the cold.
Icicles hang off an Alberta Spruce.	Lirope is decorated with ice crystals.	The blue of the pansy is still vibrant under the ice.

January 7, 2011
Vegetables are Beautiful

Take regular walks around the garden in winter. There are so many interesting things to see. For example you might not want to eat these veggies but they are still beautiful in the garden. Too often gardeners are too neat, pulling up anything that is left growing in the vegetable garden before the frost. I like to leave annuals, vegetables, and seed heads, in the garden until spring clean-up. They make the winter more interesting. By spring some have disappeared on their own and the garden clean-up is easier. There is not much left to remove.

I stop deadheading flowers in early October to allow them togo to seed. Some of my roses keepblooming into December. The same rose that was photographed on December 15 in my fall garden tour is still hanging on, dried on the cane.