(Via Home and Family: Gardening Articles from EzineArticles.com)

Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2008-03-06, 07:33:03

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds have crossed the expanse of the Gulf of Mexico and have been sited all along the Texas, Louisiana, and Florida Coasts. It is time to get ready for them in your backyard. Bluntly put, there is huge fascination for these small bundles. It is just such fascination that fuels the desire to find a way to attract hummingbirds to our yards. How does one attract these amazing dynamos to your yard?

(Via An Iowa Garden)

Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2008-03-06, 07:26:00

I recently posted a rather whiny complaint about how columbines won't grow in my garden; a modest exception is Aquilegia Tower Light Blue, which has seeded about slightly in one spot. I guess if you can only have one columbine in your garden, this is a pretty nice one. Actually I don't much care for the plant habit itself; columbines in general are rather attractive when they first arise out of the ground in spring, but by the time they bloom, and especially later in the dry, dusty late summer, they become somewhat ungainly and "stalky". Well, A. Tower Light Blue actually accentuates that ungainliness, with rather sparse, low-growing foliage and very long stalks with the flowers "towering " over the low plants. I'm not sure why this trait was considered desirable, unless it is that it makes a better cutting plant (but columbines don't last well as a cutting flower). However, the flowers themselves... well, they are quite lovely; double flowers in kind of an old-fashioned dusty lavender, which contrast with the greenish unopened blooms.
So, here it is... my one columbine (assuming it's still there this spring); I'm still suspicious of alien columbine abductors being active hereabouts.

(Via An Iowa Garden)

Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2008-03-06, 07:26:00

I recently posted a rather whiny complaint about how columbines won't grow in my garden; a modest exception is Aquilegia Tower Light Blue, which has seeded about slightly in one spot. I guess if you can only have one columbine in your garden, this is a pretty nice one. Actually I don't much care for the plant habit itself; columbines in general are rather attractive when they first arise out of the ground in spring, but by the time they bloom, and especially later in the dry, dusty late summer, they become somewhat ungainly and "stalky". Well, A. Tower Light Blue actually accentuates that ungainliness, with rather sparse, low-growing foliage and very long stalks with the flowers "towering " over the low plants. I'm not sure why this trait was considered desirable, unless it is that it makes a better cutting plant (but columbines don't last well as a cutting flower). However, the flowers themselves... well, they are quite lovely; double flowers in kind of an old-fashioned dusty lavender, which contrast with the greenish unopened blooms.
So, here it is... my one columbine (assuming it's still there this spring); I'm still suspicious of alien columbine abductors being active hereabouts.

(Via Dig in with Kym - The Oregonian - OregonLive.com)

Posted by admin to musings on 2008-03-06, 07:00:00

When I was a kid and my parents were out of town, my obsessive-compulsive tendencies came out in full force. Since I had five brothers and a baby sister (who did not share my everything-in-its-place nature), I rarely had the...

(Via Home and Family: Gardening Articles from EzineArticles.com)

Posted by admin to Uncategorized on 2008-03-06, 06:44:43

Choosing a tree, especially one close to the house, is the most critical gardening decision you will have to make. Here are some pointers to help you get it right.