Martinis and Marigolds - Refreshingly Quick Tips for Home and Garden

Container Gardening Secret Sauce

Container Gardening Secret Sauce

Finally! Our frost-free date ( Mother's Day Weekend ) has arrived here in PA. So I decided to once again share my secrets to creating easy to care for container gardens that will look great all summer long. Read on to find out about my Secret Sauce for container gardening success.

Posted in container gardening, flowers, garden, gardening

Rainbows in the Winter Garden

Rainbows in the Winter Garden

While winter can be stark and sometimes very white when snow arrives, author Paula Marolewski has managed to discover a rainbow of color in her garden. Read on and enjoy her colorful photos for mid-winter burst of color.

DIY Beaded Bird Feeders

DIY Beaded Bird Feeders

Cold weather has finally arrived here in PA and it's time to start thinking about feeding our feather friends during the cold months ahead. Read on to find out how to create bird feeders that are unique and easy to make.

Posted in attracting birds, bird feeders, diy, winter

Lessons from the Garden

Lessons from the Garden

I learn a lot from my garden. For instance, you’ve probably been told, “Bloom where you’re planted!” Heck … my garden has taught me to persist and grow even when conditions are less than optimal – in fact, impossible. Such as this pink and green coleus, that sprouted from some long-lost seed buried in the dirt and grew out of the drainage hole in the bottom of my hibiscus pot!

The Inorganic Gardener

The Inorganic Gardener

I am an inorganic gardener. Now, before you get your knickers in a twist, hear me out. I’m not talking about bug spray and pesticides and all that stuff. I just mean that my garden isn’t only composed of organic – that is, living – things. It also has inorganic components to it. Namely, my garden décor.

Container Garden Recipes

Container Garden Recipes

Last weekend was our official frost free date in SE Pennsylvania. Hurray!!! So I had lots of fun (even though it was raining) spending time in my potting shed and creating my summer container gardens for the season.

In this article, I thought I would share my plant combination ‘recipes’ to give you some inspiration for plantings at your home.

Container Gardening Secret Sauce

Container Gardening Secret Sauce

Mother’s Day is classically seen as our ‘Frost Free’ date here so I’m always really excited  at this time of year to get those plants home and into hanging planters, pots and window boxes. In the past, my excitement would wane with the heat of summer. I felt that I could not keep up with the watering and my plants suffered with my busy schedule. But one of my Master Gardener friends shared her secrets to keeping her containers looking good all summer. I’ve added to her suggestions over the years to come up my own recipe for success and I’m going to share those with you!

Garden Friends

Garden Friends

A lot of friends have joined me in my garden over the years. Only a few of them, however, have been human!

For instance, for quite a few summers, my garden hosted Al, my bee. He needed a small name, because he was a small bee. He lived in a hole in my fence and, every year, he would engage in home improvements. I could tell when he was expanding his mini-mansion, because a tiny pile of sawdust would collect beneath his hole.

Beauty in Every Season

Beauty in Every Season

Most of us have a favorite season of the year. But part of the joy of gardening is that, as we actively engage with nature in the intimacy of our own yard, we can find beauty in every season.

Spring for me starts when “pale green points” (a description I love from The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett) start pushing up through the soil. The days may still be cold, but my heart is warmed as I see my garden waking up.