Bill Shores in Rick Bayless' Garden

I am very excited because I got tickets to a tour of gardens designed and tended by Bill Shores of Shores Garden Consulting. The tickets for the tour sell out within days. Last year a waited to long to decide and I missed the boat. This year however I acted quickly and got 4 tickets. Myself and a few garden buddies are going to spend the night downtown and make a few days out of it. The following day I volunteer in the Lurie Garden. I love my life!
We are very fortunate to have Bill Speaking at Spring Bluff Nursery on June 5th. His talk will be on Urban Agriculture and Small Space Food Production.

The BEST gifts

Last spring I was working with a new client who has a wooded back yard. She has no turf only the forest floor and many woodland plants. We decided to make an exchange of woodland plants I had at my farm for Trillium which grows abundantly in her woods. Spring went by so quickly I did not get a chance to return for the plants.

Would you believe that wonderful gardener called me this week to remind me to stop over and collect the plants. I of course was not going to let this opportunity pass me by again. I found a small window of time on my next day off and I have adopted a small group of beautiful Trillium.

MINT mint MiNT

The early warm snap has given the plants a jump start and it is time to start my spring clean up. I enjoy weeding the mint bed because it smells divine the entire time your in it. The harder I work the more fragrant it is.

Just when I thought no one knew what I was doing, my daughter popped her head out the back door with excitement "your in the mint"! She then proceeded to open all the windows.

Spring Cleaning

On Saturday, we spent the entire day on the farm. I was able to spend a great deal of time cleaning out my flower garden. What a beautiful transformation. This has been such a warm spring so far, everything is growing wonderfully. Weeds? Oh, the weeds are staying ahead of the game too. It is a game! Maybe I should say challenge. Every year I stride forward to stay ahead of the weeds. When fall is around the corner I rather loose the battle. I am sure this year will not be any different, but until then, I am going to keep on picking those weeds. The flower garden is into its 3rd year. Last year it was very beautiful and I know this year it is going to be outstanding. I added Amsonia and Ornamental Oregano in the fall. I am looking forward to taking many pictures.
On the farm there is an old Lilac bush. I have been trimming away a little each year to rejuvenate it. I see new grow on it already. I hope this year we get a few more blooms. It would feel good to know I helped it bounce back to life.

Itching to plant

I was at JoAnn Fabrics the other day and came across the most adorable ceramic pots. They are shaped like a large cup and saucer. I purchased three of them. I really want to purchase more. I am going to plant one for my mother in-law for Mothers Day. I will plant the others for the new garden in the woods at the farm. These will be adorable. The fun part has just started. "In search of great plants" is next! I already have a dozen ideas of the direction I want to go. I will go back to JoAnn Fabrics for some type of moss. At least one of these should be a miniature garden. I adore spring.

Pansy where are you?

The weather has finally broken and I need my Pansy fix. I have pride in myself to be the first in my neighborhood to plant pansies. If the plant is "hardened off", it is hardy to 15 degrees. The sooner you get them planted, the sooner they will grow!

It is also time to cut back my perennial grasses. I find it is easier to tie them up first. This makes for less mess and easier to haul off the bundled grasses.
If you look up into your Maple trees, you can see them in bud. Some of these buds are beautiful colors of crimson and reds.

I will be cutting Forsythia branches to force indoors. I hope the rabbits did not eat all of them this winter. I am really into color from nature, and forsythias are a beautiful yellow.

I am really toying with the idea of getting a few chicks. I want a few chickens in my yard. If I give free eggs to the neighbors, I might just get away with it. Our yard is filled with trees and shrubs. During the growing season, you really can't see inside the fence. I don't believe a few chickens will be of any bother to the neighborhood.
Happy Spring!

Change is in the Wind

Change is in the wind, has always been my favorite part of spring. Renewal, rejoice, rebirth.... My career is blowing in a new direction. I am giving up my design table for Managing the sales yard. I have a previous Management background, but I gave it all up for greener grass? My nature is to see what can be improved and as they say "don't complain unless you want to take over the job".
Its going to be fun. Spring here I come 1,2,3 and leap!

Fresh Mint

Last week we had Mojitos. Yummy mix of lime, mint and rum. I can't believe we paid $4.00 for that tiny box of mint. It grows so plentiful in the garden for most of the year. I closed my eyes when I opened the box. I had to breath in deeply and all at once the essence from the mint made me want to believe winter was over and spring had arrived. For a brief moment I thought of opening my eyes and seeing green every where, but reality set in and I knew that the earth is still asleep in the midwest.
Today the sun is out. There is still snow on the ground and the only way to describe it is "bright". It almost hurts your eyes.

Pizza Night

A couple of times a year we get the family together and make pizza. Everyone has a job. I prepare the dough, Vicky and Kurt prebake the individual size crust, I make the sauce and sausage, someone else cuts up mushrooms, green pepper, onion, fresh cheeses, basil and garlic. Everyone gets to put there own pizza together and put it in the oven. Its a fun night. My sons friends appear out of the wood work on family pizza night. We usually end up playing board games or telling stories.
Its always a great night, its fun to see who shows up and what they bring to the evening!

Stepping closer to the farm life

We are preparing to put our home on the market. We have lived here for 10 years. Our son was 9 when we moved here, the mark on the closet doorway says he was just under 4 feet tall. Now at 19, he is 6'2". Tears of joy, but time passed to quickly. Yes, it has been a home not just a house. We have shared joys and sorrows, we have had celebrations and much laughter in this home. We have watched our family grow in many ways. It has served its purpose and it is time for everyone to move on.

Its time for us to venture out and claim our dreams of farm life. We plan to rent until we build a suitable home on our five acres located 2 hours south of our current home. The first step is selling this house. We have a great yard. Since we are both gardeners, we over planted. We have a very private and peaceful yard in the summer. We put in a pond and two years later, we enlarged it. It is a very enchanting setting. I know I'll miss it but I am looking for to over planting another pit of earth.