Shawn and I chalked up many hours in 2018 traveling from North Carolina through Virginia to West Virginia, and we grew to appreciate our stops at the interstate rest areas in NC and VA. Both NC and VA invest in landscaping at these facilities including some impressive wildflower plantings. Pollinators, including Monarch butterflies, face a […]
Not Everything Works as Planned
Garden web site curators and bloggers love to sprinkle their prose with stunning pictures of perfect plants and blooms. Books with a gardening theme include a bounty of glossy images with unspoiled backgrounds. Those who garden in the real world—hordes of Japanese beetles, critters that dig in the soft soils of our garden beds, and […]
The Love Triangle
As we plan and prepare for Michelle’s wedding there are items that uniquely fall onto my list such as the table for the unity portion of the ceremony. For an outdoor wedding planned for a beautiful garden in January in North Carolina, I know that table better show up on time and make a statement. […]
Hypocrisy in the Garden
Many years ago, as I marched the land set aside for what is now my neighborhood, I searched for the perfect building lot. I found a winner, one which had a maturing oak anchoring what would become the backyard. The tree had a slight lean, but I was certain that with the removal of the […]
Leaving the Garden
Mom took great comfort in her flowers and time in the garden energized her. She loved to survey the blooms from the kitchen window as she cooked and baked and washed dishes. Her late-life move from Angel Fork and the gardens she had tended for nearly fifty years left her unsettled. To feel at home […]
We Need An Anchor
The debate waffled for a year. Do we remove the mature poplar from the front garden, the tree that our daughter planted more than thirty years ago? I remember that adorable child bringing a tiny sprout with two leaves and asking where she might plant it. We chose the spot and tended it. God did […]