crazy little thing called bee balm

As it turns out, I understand exactly nothing about bee balm. Nothing. Last spring, I bought what I thought to be three four inch starts of red bee balm. When I planted them, I split two of them in half. So five mounds of what I thought to be red bee balm. Although the mounds grew […]

something for (next to) nothing

I am thrifty. I love the challenge of uncovering the treasure in the piles of thrift goods. I love restoring the sheen of cast-off things. I love the bargain price of something that was better made than anything manufactured now. As it goes, I also love saving cast-off plants in the garden. The lilies shown […]

bit by bit, moving toward perfection

“Don’t let perfect get in the way of better.” It’s a phrase used at work regarding lean manufacturing efforts and the process of continual improvement. I have mentioned it previously, and embrace it in my personal life as well. Personally, it allows me to find manageable steps to breakdown overwhelmingly massive projects. The lesson of […]

reclaiming my side… yard

Three years ago, our side yard was a slope of grass and weeds. I began developing it into a flower bed immediately. My first effort at terracing helped slow the erosion of our topsoil and gave us good space for the flowers we had to transplant. The learning curve was as steep as the side […]

the why behind the what

Before my husband and I started dating, I was already setting myself on the path to garden. I was quietly railing against the Great American Lawn™. Such wasted effort and time and resource. At the time, it was a slight murmer of an idea. I was renting and had little extra time to invest in […]

patience is a peony

The two of us are working to fill our garden with the memories of our lives, certainly of our childhoods. In this regard, peonies are my husband’s contribution as a memory of his father and the peonies he grew in the yard of my husband’s childhood home. That home was sold as part of settling […]

the cilantro learning curve

We have grown cilantro every year but the first that we have been in our wabi-sabi cottage. The first year, the only beds that got prepared were those needed for the plants we brought with us from the old house and the plants gifted to us from my in-laws. The second year, I sowed the […]

monday, tuesday, rainy day, all days

So much rain. So much. But I still manage to get plants into the ground. And the flowers thrive. So much. Like the rose bush that came with the house. Our severe winter killed more of it that the two prior years, so I cut it back, I thought, harshly. Almost to half its size. […]

the big beautiful mess

This past week’s garden project: advancing the side garden’s terracing. Three years ago, this was a grass/weed covered slope. Daylilies from the old house, surprise lilies and blackberry lilies and glacier rocks from my in-laws’ farm. Pavers and concrete border stones. Adding in perennial and annual herbs, a ReStore arbor, no-dig fencing. A perfect old […]

weed, water, repeat

Spring is full bore, and our wabi-sabi garden is set to explode with life. The hummingbird feeders are out, the bird bath is flipped and filled. The adjacent lot is more manicured and reclaimed than it has been since we’ve owned it, since we’ve owned our house even… The back most raised bed has been […]